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JOUENEY THROUGH KANSAS; 



SKETCHES OF NEBRASKA: 



DESCRir.IXO 



THE COUNTRY, CLIMATE, SOIL, MIXERAL, ilAXUEAC- 
TURING, AND OTHER RESOURCES. 



THE RESULTS OF A TOUR MADE IN' THE AUTU3IX OF 1854. 



KEV. C. B. BOYNTON and T. B. MASON, 

COMMITTEE FROM THE " KANSAS LEAGUE," OF CI^•CI^'^-ATI. 



mii^ K 'gtbj anir ^ni^zntk.W^^, from (DfEtial ioums. 



CINCINNATI: 

MOOEE, WILSTACH, KEYS & CO, 

NO. 25 WEST FOURTH STREE] 

1855 




Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year ISol, by 

MOORE, WILSTACH, KEYS & CO., 

In the Clerk's of&ce of the District Court of Ohio. 






Stereotyped by 
MOORE. WILSTACH, KEYS tc OVEBE/«D, 

CINCINNATI. 



*; 



i^ «\' / 



n ^^ 



COMMISSIONERS' PREFACE 



Our first intention, after our return from Kansas, 
was to present only a brief formal report of the 
principal facts connected with the geography, soil, 
climate, productions, and resources of the country. 
But we soon found that the material we had collected 
was ample for a work of a different character ; and it 
was the opinion of judicious persons with whom we 
consulted, that the interests of the cause would be 
best promoted by weaving this material into a cheap 
book of a somewhat popular caste, by which a wider 
circulation could be given to the facts themselves. 

This course was decided upon, after consultation 
with the officers of the Societies by whom we were 
sent out, and the statements of the book have the 
official sanction of the Commissioners. 

Charles B. Boynton, 
- . T. B. ]\Iasok 

CiNCiifXATi, October, 1854, 

(iii) 



PREFACE OF THE WRITER 



In September, 1854, a small party was commis- 
sioned by "The American Eeform Tract and Book 
Society,'^ and "The Kansas League,'^ in Cincinnati, to 
explore and report upon the climate, soil, produc- 
tions and general resources, and promise of Kansas. 

With this party the writer united himself, partly 
for the purpose of aiding in executing the commission, 
and partly in the hope of recruiting his exhausted 
strength by a ramble over the "prairie land'^ of 
Kansas. 

After the return of the party, it was thought that 
perhaps many of the scenes and incidents of that far, 
and almost unexplored Territory, which had so deeply 
interested us, might, through description, awaken an 
interest in others ; and that the facts themselves, if 
conveyed partly through the medium of narrative, 
would make a more vivid impression, and obtain a 
wider circulation. 

(V) 



VI PREFACE OF TKE WRITER. 

All facts and statements concerning the aspect, re- 
sources, and productions of the country, are presented 
with the sanction of the Commissioners ; while, for the 
grouping of these facts, description, and narration, the 
writer alone is responsible. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 1. 
Preparations and Inquiries, 1 

CHAPTER II. 
From Cincinnati to St. Louis, 4 

CHAPTER III. 
Voyage up the Missouri — Cholera on the Boat, 10 

CHAPTER IV. 
Business and Boats of the Missouri — Kansas City, 18 

CHAPTER V. 
A Squatter City — Fort Leaven-worth — ^Weston, 23 

CHAPTER VI. 

Weston Ferry and its Shibboleth — Entrance into the Territory.. .30 

(vii) 



Vm CONTEXTS. 

CHAPTER VII. 
Geograpliical and Commercial Diyisions, 33 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Scenery and Incidents, 45 

CHAPTER IX. 
Climate and Productions, 58 

\ 

CHAPTER X. 
Temperature and Quantity of Rain, 60 



CHAPTER XI. 

Streams, Springs, Yv^ells, Timber — its kinds and quality — Mate- 
rials for Fences and Dwellinfrs, "6-1 



CHAPTER XII. 
A Night on the banks of the Big Blue, 77 

CHAPTER XIII. 

The Scenery of the Prairies— The Past, The Present, The Future,. 86 

CHAPTER XIV 
Town Sites and Settlements, 93 

CHAPTER XV. 
The First "Winter may be one of Hardship, 101 



. CONTENTS. IX 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Fort Riley — Indian Fighting, 105 

CHAPTER XVII. 
From Fort Riley to Council Grove — Kaw Indians, Ill 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Number of Inhabitants now in the Territory — Slaveholders — 
Their Feelings and Plans, 125 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The Importance of Kansas, as seen in her position and rela- 
tions to other portions of the country, 133 

CHAPTER XX. 
Homestead and Pre-Emption Law, 142 

CHAPTER XXI. 
Indian Lands and Reservations, 152 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Mules — Tecum sell — Prospecting — The New England Settle- 
ment — A Mule Chase, loG 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
The Mounds — An Indian Murderer — Interesting Custom, IGl 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

An Interesting Family — Hunting on the Plains and among the 

•Rocky Vi^.onutains — Wintf^r Advon<T!VPs on tli? fV.-iiri-^-; 171 



3C CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXV. 
Nebraska, 183 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
Great Importance of the Kansas Question, 198 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
Warning Voice, 203 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
Christian Obligation — Christian Colonization, 209 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PREPARATIONS AND INQUIRIES. 

Within the short space of a few weeks, a large amount 
of information has been collected and circulated in regard 
to Kansas. Every scrap concerning this last new land of 
promise, has been devoured with curiosity's keenest appe- 
tite, and most men will now talk as if Kansas were a 
familiar subject, studied and comprehended. Few, however, 
as yet, have formed any well-defined ideas of the position, 
* aspect and resources of this great Territory, or have meas- 
ured aright the influences which its settlement is likely to 
exert upon the destiny of the whole country; and two 
months since, when it was first determined that an explor- 
ing party should go out from Cincinnati, it was far n ^re 
difficult to decide what was needed for such a journey man 
to provide an outfit for a voyage to Europe ; and while we 
modestly admit that we had ourselves no knowledge to boast 
of, we must add, that the general ignorance was highly 
amusing. Some seemed to have no more definite notion of 
1 



2 JOUEXEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

the position of Kansas, than of the distance of the fixed 
stars. They thought of it as indefinitely remote — some- 
where "out west," toward the Pacific Ocean. One indi- 
vidual placed it two thousand miles from Council Bluffs ; 
another brought it on within two thousand miles of Cincin- 
nati, while an Irish friend inquired if it was indeed a newly- 
discovered continent. An outfit for Kansas is a matter to 
be very gravely considered, and attended to in the minutest 
manner, before starting, and a thing to be laughed over when 
once you are in the Territory. Eifles, shot-guns and revolv- 
ers, with all the necessary accoutermeuts and ammunition, 
hunters' knives, blankets, tents, camp equipage, fishing 
apparatus, water-proof boots and coats ; these, and innu- 
merable smaller articles, were to be duly considered and 
decided uj^on. 

Who could tell what weapons of offense or defense 
might be needed on the lonely prairie ? All the newspapers 
agreed in declaring that no man should dare venture without 
his rifle, at the very least. 

Whether the rifle was to be used against panthers, grizzly 
bears, and wolves, or against the Pawnees, or Camanches, or 
to defend ourselves against those bloody-minded members of 
the Platte County Self-defensive Association, who had offered 
a reward for Eli Thayer, we could not tell ; or whether it 
mi ht not be necessary to carry by assault the famous Wes- 
ton ferry, where it was said no Yankee could, on any terms, 
get over. A rifle was voted into the outfit ; also, a " double 
barrel," for none could tell us how else food was to be ob- 
tained, and for the same reason our fishing-tackle was added, 
as also a revolver for close combat, whether witli mnn or 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 6 

beast. Eubber overcoats and leggins were also obtained, 
for b'w could a shelter be reached on the naked prairie ? 
We were told in the Territory, that a very prudent gentle- 
man from New York, one of great forecast, had carried his 
precautionary measures so far, as to take out with him a 
paper of sand for scouring his knives. Our providence was 
not so far-reaching or so minute as his, but when fairly under- 
way in Kansas, rolling easily in a two-horse carriage over the 
finest roads in the world, we discovered that our outfit, pro- 
vided with so much anxious care, was, with a few exceptions, 
as little needed as it would be in the streets of our own city. 
Our rifle did indeed have a shot at a prairie wolf, and prairie 
chickens, quails and plover heard the voice of our " double 
barrel ;" to which fact, most of them being yet alive, are 
ready to bear witness ; while a few, impudent, and scornful, 
offering themselves at ''standing shot" vt ere added to our 
spoils, and we left their well-picked bones to bleach upon 
the prairies. The hunter's knife was quite useful, one 
morning, in preparing some dry toast for a breakfast on the 
prairie, but had no taste of the blood of buffaloes, or elk, or 
even grizzly bears. 

In fact, the exploration of Kansas was a much more peace- 
ful affair, with a more decidedly civilized aspect, than our 
friends had feared, or we had imagined. But, though blood- 
less, our journey was full of instruction upon points now 
intimately connected with American progress, interspersed 
with some exciting and many amusing incidents ; while 
after leaving St. Louis, the whole scene was attractive, from 
its novelty, which scene, as it was a few weeks since, I will 
now endeavor to nresent to the reader. 



CHAPTER II. 

FROM CINCINNATI TO ST. LOUIS. 

The Ohio bad shrunk, during the drouth, to a shallow 
that put to shame its boasting spring flood, and our Ohio 
and Mississippi Eailroad being as jet only in "rapid prog- 
ress," our party was compelled to set its face toward 
Chicago. But, by which route ? This question suggests 
many important thoughts concerning the trade of Cincinnati. 
The traveler may pass by steamboat or railway to Madison, 
and thence northward by railroad to Indianapolis and Chi- 
cago; or, to Lawrenceburgh, cither by the boat or cars, 
and thence to Chicago; or, by Hamilton, Richmond, and 
Indianapolis ; or, lastly, by Dayton, Eichmond, and Indian- 
apolis. This assemblage of railways, stretching from Cin- 
cinnati toward the northwest, shows how earnestly she is 
now preparing herself to attract the trade of that immense 
and fertile region — while the long lines which traverse 
the country from the Mississippi eastward, some of them 
already crowded with freights and travel, and that leave 
the Queen City to the south on one side, cause one to feel 
that the air-line connection with St. Louis has been delayed 
too long already, and that it behooves Cincinnati not only to 
finish this railroad with all haste, but to be dilisent and 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 5 

greatly in earnest to ally herself to the free west and north- 
west, by all those ties and living sympathies, which are 
mightier even than railways, to give direction to the currents 
of trade. 

On one of the sunniest mornings of early autumn, we 
were seated in the cars of the Ohio and Mississippi Eail- 
road. I felt the first motion of the train on this link of 
the great central " broad gauge " with strong emotion. Soon 
this broad gauge will stretch in almost an air-line, from St. 
Louis to New York ; and already its westward continuation 
to the mouth of the Kansas is under-way, and then for the 
Pacific and the trade of the ''exhaustless East." How 
sooD, along this iron artery, the tide of commerce will throb 
from ocean to ocean ! This spanning a continent with such 
a railway is a thought worthy the nineteenth century — one 
which no other century could have conceived or executed. 
It is an exponent of the spirit of our age, and marks the 
change in the direction of human thought and industry, 
since the time when the genius and labor of an empire were 
employed in piling up the good-for-nothing pyramids. Eu- 
rope and Asia will yet rush to meet each other in this^ 
Western valley, at the rate of fifty miles an hour ! At some 
eating station out in Kansas, or at Salt Lake, London and 
Canton will exchange congratulations and newspapers. 

The sooner all idea of obtaining aid from the Government 
for building a Pacific Eailroad is abandoned, the better, 
probably, and the sooner the work will be done. Not that 
it would not be a noble achievement for the Government, to 
link thus oceans and continents together, and make the 
commerce of the earth tributary to our own advancement, 



6 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

but the south, and the north, and the center, can never 
agree, as we have reason to fear, upon any route, and so let 
each section push its own lines westward as rapidly as 
possible. Each great division of the country needs a con- 
nection with the Pacific ; and it is to be hoped that each 
will succeed in its efforts. In the meantime, the first and 
highest prize awaits the most energetic. A broad gauge 
air-line from New York, by Cincinnati, St. Louis, the 
Valley of the Kansas, and Fremont's newly-discovered 
Pass, need not despair of business. So at least I thought, 
as we swept down the bank of the Ohio. 

The river seemed actually ashamed of itself, and tried to 
hide its shriveled dimensions, by creeping close up under 
the shadow of the steep banks, and winding, with its feeble 
channel, as much as possible, out of sight. I felt a pity 
for the old river that had held au exclusive monopoly of 
carriage here so long, and now, when old and feeble, was 
thrust aside, and made the theme of idle ridicule, by those 
who were once thankful to be borne on its full-flowing 
stream, kissing the high rim of either bank. The steam- 
horse snorted and neighed in derision as he rushed past, 
and the puny river had now no consolation, unless he 
thought of his fall-rise, and his spring-flood. 

Chicago may be regarded as the most aspiring city in 
the Union, and certainly the marvelous progress of her 
youth, may well justify her in anticipating greatness in her 
maturity. It remains to be seen whether she is not stretch- 
ing herself beyond her measure, and preparing for a calam- 
itous reaction. She shows, as yet, however, no signs of 
weakness or pause, and though in every natural advantage 



JOUKNEY THROUGH KAN,<AS. 7 

she is far inferior to Cincinnati, yet there are powerful 
influences operating in her favor, which the Queen City does 
not enjoy. 

The east has poured into Chicago and the adjacent coun- 
try her sons and daughters, and capital in no stinted measure. 
She has followed these, of course, with her eyes and heart, 
her sympathies and prayers. Chicago has enjoyed, of late, 
whatever aid the influence of the east could give her. To- 
ward her, the public attention has been turned; to her, 
capital has been directed for investment. The east has 
reproduced itself in that northern region, and the promising 
child is beloved, praised and recommended. In all this 
movement for the settlement and upbuilding of the north- 
west, Cincinnati is scarcely more thought of than Xew 
Orleans. The thought and sympathy of the east rolls 
along the lakes, and across to Iowa and Minesota, even to 
Oregon, and the memories and affections of these in turn, flow 
back eastward along the same lines, to New York and Boston, 
carrying their commerce with them. Chicago is the true 
heart of the country, of which she is the commercial center. 

The rural population, the people, and the city, are in 
sympathy with each other. Their interests have thus 
become mutual, and they are rapidly concentrating upon 
Chicago an array of institutions and influences that will 
form a broad foundation of metropolitan power. 

Chicago is an exponent of western sentiment as Cincinnati 
is not, and she is in closer sympathy with the general move- 
ment of the country. With these advantages, united with 
the unwearied energy which she displays, it perhaps were 
unwise to say, that she will not accomplish her large desires. 



8 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

inferior thougli she is to her southern neighbor, in position, 
size, architectural beauty, wealth and manufactures. Moral 
causes are entering largely into the control of commerce, 
and cities even, must beware how they violate the great 
principles of right. 

St. Louis. — In studying the map of the United States, 
one involuntarily puts his finger upon the site of St. Louis, 
as the spot where the great internal city of the country 
should be, and feels compelled to prophesy, that there it 
must and will be. But here, again, moral causes interpose, 
and produce results, which, at first glance, would scarcely 
be anticipated. /Slavery has repelled from St. Louis the 
element of freedom, and turned the tide of free emigration 
northward, leaving her own beautiful regions a waste, and 
herself languishing in an atmosphere lacking the vitality 
of freedom. ; 

It is evident, however, to the most casual observer, that 
there is in St. Louis a new life contending with the old 
death-power of slavery. The young city, born of the influ- 
ences of the surrounding free territory and its commerce, 
bears yet with her the body of that death ; but the bands 
which lash the living to the dead, are loosening, and unless 
the Nebraska iniquity shall finally triumph, St. Louis will 
enter upon a new career, and the enjoyment of a better life. 

Should Kansas and the States yet to be erected on the 
adjoining Territories, become slave States, St. Louis will 
command their commerce, as she will, also, the trade of the 
south, in far larger measure than she now does, excluding 
Cincinnati in large degree from both, notwithstanding all 
past and present efi'orts to secure the southern favor. 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 9 

On the other hand, should those vast and fertile western 
regions teem with a free population, St. Louis, as a free 
city, will, in the end, interpose herself between them and 
Cincinnati; and then, if the latter is not allied to those 
frontier States, by any common sympathies or affinities — by 
any ties of kindred or the power of common memories and 
associations — if ^the recollections of their early struggles are 
connected only with other friends, will it not be difficult for 
her, in the absence of these things, to obtain the commerce 
of these rising States ? Such are some of the moral influ- 
ences which seem to connect themselves with the fortunes 
of western cities — and thus largely is the slavery question 
likely to influence their commerce and their growth. 



CHAPTER III. 

VOYAGE UP THE MISSOURI — CHOLERA ON THE BOAT. 

It bad been our intention to join tbe second party tbat 
-went out under tbe auspices of tbe Emigrant Aid Society. 
Tbis party, numbering abotit one bundred and tbirty, 
reacbed St. Louis on Saturday, and instead of resting in 
St. Louis over tbe Sabbatb, as we bave since understood it 
was tbe intention of tbe officers of tbe Society tbat tbey 
sbould do, proceeded immediately up tbe river — tbus tramp- 
ling down one law of God, in a mission professedly under 
taken to vindicate anotber. 

Tbis desecration of tbe Sabbatb by a band of emigrants 
from Massacbusetts, as most of tbem were, and connected 
as tbey were witb a society organized for tbe very purpose 
of opposing an immorality, was a cause of grief to tbe best 
friends of tbe movement in tbe West. It served to divest 
tbe wbole enterprise of a moral cbaracter ; and to tbis extent 
diminisbed its power. Tbose wbo bad denounced it, were 
encouraged in tbeir opposition. Tbe friends of tbe slave 
power bad feared more tban all else, tbat tbe spirit and 
principles of tbe Pilgrims would, by systematic effort, be 
planted in Kansas. But wben tbey knew tbat tbis large 
company, tbe representatives, as tbey bad reason to suppose, 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 11 

of those who were to follow, did not hesitate to prosecute 
their journey on the Sabbath, it served to modify, somewhat, 
in their minds, the effect of the religious speeches, and 
Bible presentation, and Pilgrim songs, that had heralded 
their approach. Their Pilgrim character was stripped away 
by their own hands, and they sank in public estimation to 
the level of a common band of adventurers. In a mere 
worldly point of view, it was a serious mistake, and it 
occasioned a loss of moral power not easily regained. It 
showed the necessity of a movement originating in deep and 
steady religious feeling, by which alone Kansas can be per- 
manently secured for God and freedom. 

To one unaccustomed to the navigation of western rivers, 
a voyage up the Missouri presents many novel, and some 
interesting, features. The union of the Mississippi and 
jMissouri is conducted very much according to some of the 
modern ideas of marriage. The two do not become one, 
but remain two distinct and separate individuals, with 
equal rights and privileges, long after their destinies flow 
on together, between two common banks. Far below, how- 
ever, it is perceived, that even the rivers find out that this 
is not the true philosophy of marriage, and they therefore 
melt into one. There are few such scenes on earth as the 
meeting of those giant floods, after each has swept over half 
the breadth of a continent, and almost half a continent still 
between them and the sea. "We speak of them often, and 
of the great system of rivers, of which they form the cen- 
tral lines, as evincing the foresight of God, in regard to the 
commerce of the Western valley — as if they had been shaped 
exclusively for the trade of this nineteenth century. But what 



12 JOURNEY THROUGH KANcAS. 

purpose were they subserving, in the economy of creation, 
through the ages during which they were all rolling on their 
floods before the Anglo-Saxons began to be ? Even then they 
had some mission worthy of Him who unsealed their springs 
in the mountains, and scooped out their beds in the valleys. 
We are apt in our pride to imagine, that all the past has 
been shaped for our accommodation, and that by us all the 
future will be controlled. The veriest puddle of the streets 
need not blush beside the muddy Missouri ; but one is 
deeply impressed with the power of the broad flood, that 
rushes down so unweariedly, with a velocity, as is said, of 
six miles an hour, nor slacking its speed in the race of two 
thousand miles, from the Kocky mountains to the Mississippi. 
It is a much more rapid stream than the Mississippi, and 
on the fortieth parallel of latitude, is said to be five hun- 
dred feet higher than that river. 

Sand-bars are the vexations, and snags and sawyers the 
terrors of the navigation of the Missouri. Familiarity with 
difl&culties and dangers, however, has begotten a coolness 
and skill, whereby they are avoided or overcome, and after 
watching for a day the maneuvers of a well-managed boat, 
among the snags, it is difficult to feel any anxiety about 
them, though reason gravely tells us there is continual dan- 
ger, and she also tells the truth. Yet, compared with the 
whole amount of business, accidents have become somewhat 
rare, even on the Missouri. 

These river steamboats may be said to be partly amphib- 
ious, from the manner in which they get out their legs and 
walk over the sand-bars and shallows. I once thought that 
when there is not water enough to float a boat, there is no 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 13 

remedy; but the western navigator halts not for lack of 
water. The boat is provided with heavy spars, some fifty 
feet long, which are set out over the sides, like the legs of 
giants, and by means of the proper machinery, worked by 
the capstan, the weight of the boat is partly suspended upon 
her legs, and she literally ''walks the water like a thing of 
life." 

The days occupied in our passage up the river, were 
among the hottest of the season, and the heat of the fires 
and steam converted the whole boat into one huge furnace, 
especially when not under-way. We knew that the cholera 
was doing a fatal, though quiet work, along our western 
rivers, as well as in the cities of the country, and even one 
whose courage is based upon Christian faith, could scarce 
avoid some unpleasant apprehensions, at the thought of the 
brutal neglect by which so many attacked with cholera upon 
steamboats, have been really murdered ; nor should a man 
be called a coward, if his soul shrinks from a midnight 
burial at a woodyard, or from being hurriedly thrust into a 
hole in a sand-bar, from which the current may wash his 
body out before a day has passed. 

Some symptoms of disease appeared among the passen- 
gers, though all was quiet. On the second day it was known 
to a few, that a young man who had left his wife and child 
in Illinois, to seek for them a new home in Kansas, was seized 
with cholera, and in a few hours more he was dead. The 
body was laid down on the guards of the boat below, away 
from the observation and knowledge of most of the passengers. 
The few who knew of it however, felt that they had received 
one of death's most solemn lessons, in this sudden vanishing 



14 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

of early manhood's dream — this swift fading of the temporal 
into the eternal, with one in our very midst, one of us — for 
among a company of passengers, traveling on for days 
together, there springs up a feeling akin to that produced 
by kindred, and a death on board resembles, though faintly, 
a death in a household. 

What tidings, too, for the young wife, counting up the 
days of his absence, and consoling herself with thoughts of 
the new home on the prairie, that her husband was dead 
and buried, perchance where she could never find even his 
grave ! In the night, at some woodyard, and unknown to 
all but the few who would bear the body ashore, he was to 
be buried ; and perhaps it may interest the reader to know 
what reason one of the living has, to remember that night 
on a Missouri river steamboat. 

Disease, which I well knew might be, and which I had 
much reason to believe really was, incipient cholera, had 
been upon me many hours previous to the sickness and death 
of him whom I have mentioned. My nervous system, from 
physical and mental exhaustion, was, before I left home, in 
a state to be impressed by every object, and by every occur- 
rence; and doubtless the predisposition to disease, was 
strengthened by this solemn death, and the prospect of such 
a midnight burial ; and, erelong, I knew that the disease 
was assuming its distinctive features, and that life's current 
had begun to ebb. A few moments' reflection brought me 
to two conclusions; first, that I had at my own disposal, as 
efficacious medicines as any one on board the boat could 
supply me wdth, and that I would depend upon them, my 
own judgment, and the overwatching care of God, and thus 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 15 

escape whatever danger tliere might be in making known a 
second case of cholera on board — for sometimes one's life is 
little cared for, in comparison with the reputation of the 
boat. Second, I knew that np to a certain point, even the 
aid of friends would be useless, and therefore determined 
not to disturb my traveling companions, unless it should be 
absolutely necessary. I sought my berth, with my medi- 
cines within reach, and committed myself into the hands 
of Him who I knew was able to save. The ''practice" was 
necessarily a very simple one, confined entirely to the use of 
large quantities of powerful stimulants, frequently repeated. 
The boat was oppressively hot, but I knew that the perspi- 
ration that would gush from every pore, and then leave me 
all cold, was not caused merely by the heat of the cabin, 
and I was sensible also, that the system was gradually sink- 
ing ; and, notwithstanding what I had swallowed already was 
quite sufficient to destroy a man in health, it was repeated, 
dose after dose, as the only hope, knowing that the fatal 
collapse was near. For what seemed a long time, I was not 
conscious of the slightest influence produced by these power- 
ful remedies so lavishly applied ; but as I now recall the 
visions and thoughts that hurried through my mind, it 
seems evident that the whole system must have been at last 
strongly excited, and there was, probably, a mingling of 
dreams with waking thoughts, a state of mind which, for a 
brief period, bordered upon, but yet was not, delirium. 
There was no fear of death, nor was there any higher exer- 
cise of Christian feeling than resignation to whatever the 
will of God might be. The mind seemed turned outward 
from itself, directed, probably, by surrounding circumstances. 



16 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

About midnight, as it seemed, the boat was stopped, and I 
knew that the corpse of our fellow-passenger was borne ashore 
in the darkness, silently, with no kindred to mourn — with no 
funeral hymn or prayer ; it was just at the time when I 
knew that my own fate would soon be decided, and that 
perhaps I, too, in a few hours more, would in like manner 
be taken away. 

I followed the group with the body, in imagination, as I 
heard it leave the deck. I seemed to see the shallow grave 
hastily dug, the glimmer of the single light, the overhang- 
ing trees, and the surrounding darkness. Then the grave 
seemed to be only a hole scooped in the sand-bar, partly 
filled with water, into which the rude box, with the body, 
was thrust, and the wet sand scraped in, and I saw the cur- 
rent lay it bare, and then sweep it away. I thought of my 
own grave, under the cottonwoods of the Missouri bottoms, 
with nothing to distinguish the place, and I saw friends 
from home sadly wandering along the shore, and searching 
vainly for the spot. Then I seemed to feel that I was dead, 
and inclosed in a rough coffin, and buried in the sand, 
where I could hear the rush of the river washing my grave 
away. 

Again, home, with every minute object of the familiar 
scene rose before me ; the family rooms and circle of loved 
ones gathered there, and I saw brought in the letter with 
the ominous seal. I followed and traced the sensation pro- 
duced by the tidings, in the larger circle of friends, and I 
remember a sense of sadness and mortification, when I 
marked how soon it was all forgot. I could not divest 
myself of the impression, that when I was dead and placed 



JOURNEY TIIIIOUGII KANSAS. 17 

in my lonely grave, that there avouIcI be the agonizing sen- 
sation of being left behind, and alone in the darkness of the 
night and the tomb, that I should feel that the spot could 
never be found or known, and that I should hear the sound 
of departing footsteps, and of the receding boat. 

When this partial dream or delirium passed, T was con- 
t?cious at once that the progress of disease was arrested; 
the vital powers were beginning to rally ; visions faded away, 
and I knew that Grod had interposed in my behalf. There 
was no doubt on my mind that the danger was nearly, if 
not entirely passed, and that, by the mercy of God, 1 had 
escaped a grave in the sand-banks of the Missouri. 

The reaction of the system, so low had it sunk, v^^as only 
to the point of health, notwithstanding the quantity and 
power of the stimulants, and my next night on the Missouri 
was one of comfort and peace. I had often read of the 
stopping of boats on these western rivers, at woodyards and 
sand-bars, to bury the dead; but now my own eye had 
seen, my own heart had been made to feel. One at least will 
not soon forget the dead emigrant, and that midnight burial. 
The banks of the Mississippi and Missouri are, in reality, 
one long graveyard, where the dead of all nations sleep, 
and their waters have swallowed up wealth enough for the 
purchase of an empire. 



CHAPTER IV. 

BUSINESS AND BOATS OF THE MISSOURI — KANSAS CITY. 

Inasmuch as it has an important "bearing upon the cheap- 
ness and comfort of emigration, the fact may be mentioned 
here, that we were agreeably disappointed at the amount of 
business, and business facilities, upon the Missouri. The 
number of steamboats on the river is greater, and they are 
larger and better provided, in every respect, than we had 
supposed would be found at this season of the year, while 
the amount of freight and number of passengers also ex- 
ceeded our expectations. It shows a large population and 
business upon the upper Missouri, which fact is well illus- 
trated by another. "Weston, a place of some 4,000 inhabit- 
ants, is, by the river, 506 miles from St. Louis; and Platte 
county, of which this is the principal commercial town, 
has been settled only fifteen years, and now contains 40,000 
inhabitants. 

These facts show that Kansas borders upon a rich and 
populous country, upon which it can depend for supplies, 
during the process of settlement, whence it can derive abun- 
dance of stock, and where, also, it can find its markets, 
until it has commercial towns on the river of its own, and 
then it will have the power of choice. With such a country 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 19 

already settled, the Missouri river on its border, and markets 
within reach, Kansas will have advantages in its settlement 
which few new countries have ever possessed, and the settlers, 
consequently, will be exposed to fewer hardships and dis- 
advantages. At this season of the year, (September,) and 
in this stage of water, (very low,) the voyage from St. Louis 
to the mouth of the Kansas river, is made in three and a 
half to four days, and the established price for cabin pas- 
sage, on the best boats, is twelve dollars. 

We were informed by the officers of our boat, that the 
Missouri was then at its lowest stage, yet this boat had very 
little difficulty in making her passage, though of 600 tons 
burden. The navigation can be depended upon until about 
the middle of November. It is then usually interrupted by 
ice, but is clear again early in March, and sometimes, in the 
latter part of February. The annual rise, from the melting 
of the snows in the Kocky mountains, occurs in May. 

The price of freights, from St. Louis to the mouth of the 
Kansas, is, during the low water, from one dollar to one 
dollar andffty cents per cwt., according to the character of 
the article, while, when the river is at full stage, and many 
Ohio river boats run up the Missouri, competition often 
brings it down to twenty-jive cents per cwt. ; and as the 
merchants of the towns up the river are able to avail them- 
selves of these low prices, for the transportation of their 
permanent stock, the settler will often, perhaps generally, 
find it to his advantage to purchase his outfit of them rather 
than to buy at St. Louis, and then subject himself to heavy 
charges for freight — especially in the latter part of the 
season. 



20 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

rriday eyening, the Kansas passengers were informed 
that they must he prepared to laud before midnight ; "but, 
unfortunately, it was found necessary to walk over a sand- 
bar, and Kansas City (in Missouri) was not reached until 
ten o'clock next morning. 

City, is a somewhat ambitious title for the little village 
of Kansas, but it may be presumed to have a prospective 
import, referring rather to the possible than the actual. It 
is on the west bank of the Missouri, near the mouth 
of the Kansas, and on the southern shore of the latter 
stream. It appears like a village of from six hundred to 
one thousand inhabitants. Having a fine landing, with 
thirty feet of water, when the river is at its low stage ; a 
natural limestone wharf, and a high bluff in the rear, it 
seems to occupy the natural site of the principal commercial 
city for the Kansas valley. Such it would doubtless be, 
were it not in a slave State. The line of Missouri, here, 
runs on the west bank of the Missouri river, close up to the 
mouth of the Kansas ; and while the mouth of this river is 
wholly in Kansas, Kansas City is within the boundaries of 
Missouri. 

What influence its location in a slave State may have 
upon its prosperity, remains yet to be seen. Prejudices 
which imbitter different sections against each other, while 
they are held apart, are often modified, or entirely removed, 
by mutual contact, business intercourse and social relations, 
and it would not be surprising if slaveholders and abo- 
litionists should yet unite their interests and efforts, in 
building up a real city, where, as yet, there is little 
but the name. 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 21 

In l^ct, Kansas City is already largely under the influence 
of eastern capital, and tlic wealth, and industry, and skill 
of the east, will be welcomed in every town on the Missouri. 

Kansas City is already contending with Weston for the 
emigrant trade, as well as for that of Santa Fe and Califor- 
nia, and should this latter place find the current of eastern 
trade and travel turned wholly aside from her doors, it will 
only prove what great and lasting mischief may be wrought, 
in an hour of folly, by a few noisy busybodies, whose self- 
conceit is much more conspicuous than their wisdom. 

On the wharf, at Kansas City, long trains were preparing 
to start for Santa Fe, to us a novel sight, and giving us a 
more distinct idea of the extent of this southwestern trade. 
It was an American caravan, preparing to cross the Ameri- 
can desert. The heav}^ capacious black wagons are more 
worthy of the name of " desert ship," than the camel, for 
they are of a tonnage almost equal to a small caucil-boat, 
and though drawn by humble mule-power, they make their 
voyages with great regularity. The manner in which the 
mules were hampered, previous to their being confined in the 
teams, appeared very ingenious. It was eflFected by lashing 
the head of one mule to the tail of another. It was such a 
meeting of extremes as we had not before seen, but the 
result was very satisfactory, and it would be an interesting 
question for some juvenile debating society, whether, in such 
a case, the tails were drawing the heads, or the heads were 
pushing on the tails. They all seemed to cherish a meek 
and quiet spirit, and marched in single file, with as much 
precision as soldiers on drill. 



22 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

Just outside of the "city limits," Kansas river empties 
into the Missouri. It was now low, but with full banks, it 
is about three hundred yards wide. By the side of the 
Missouri, its waters appeared clear, and a calm beauty 
rested upon its smooth surface, as it seemed to lie asleep in 
the shadow of its woods. On its north bank is the AYyan- 
dotte reservation, where the land rises with a fine slope, 
from both rivers, and forms a beautiful site for a town, 
superior to that of Kansas City, in all except the depth of 
water at the shore, and facilities for approach. Here may 
he a rival city, on a free soil ; and if so, the result is easily 
foreseen. 



CHAPTER V. 

A SQUATTER CITY — FORT LEAVENWORTH — WESTON. 

About thirty miles above the mouth of the Kansas, we 
came in sight of an entirely new object, unknown to all 
former experience — a " Squatter City" — ^Leavenworth City, 
three and a half miles below Fort Leavenworth, on the west 
bank of the Missouri. 

In spite of the President, and Cabinet, and treaties, the 
city has " squatted " upon lands of the Delawares, over 
which General Cushing has declared squatter sovereignty 
has no jurisdiction. Twelve hundred and more " sover- 
eigns " have already, it is said, set up their thrones on these 
Delaware lands ; and how they are to be despoiled of their 
kingdoms, is a question which the Government will not 
readily solve. 

A squatter city has little resemblance to any other city ; 
it belongs to a distinct genus of cities. This is a large and 
important one, the capital, as many hope, of Kansas, and is 
therefore worthy of description. There was one steam-engine, 
" naked as when it was born," but at work, sawing out its 
clothes. There were four tents, all on one street, a barrel 
of water or whisky under a tree, and a pot, on a pole over 
a fire. Under a tree, a type-sticker had his case before 



24 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

him, and was at work on tlie first num"ber of the new paper, 
and within a frame, without a board on side or roof, was 
the editor's desk and sanctum. When we returned from 
the Territory to Weston, we saw the "notice," stating that 
the editor had removed his oflBice from under the elm tree, 
to the corner of "Broadway and the levee." This Broad- 
way was, at that time, much broader than the streets of old 
Babylon ; for, with the exception of the "fort," there was, 
probably, not a house on either side, for thirty miles. 

Capital, skill, the spirit of speculation, and government 
patronage can accomi/lish many things, but to bring the 
trade of the Kansas valley up to Leavenworth City, would 
be a feat scarcely less remarkable than that of inducing the 
river itself to take that upward direction. 

Fort Leavenworth has a situation of great beauty, on a 
rolling bluff, where scattering forest trees give it the appear- 
ance of a cultivated park. As a military depot it has im- 
portance, in connection with more eastern stations, but, as 
a "fort," it makes a meager show. From the character of 
the buildings in general, one would not suj^pose Uncle Sam 
to be the gentleman of wealth he is. But his means are 
principally expended for the benefit of his southern farms ; 
and he is also reserving his funds for larger additions in that 
direction. Some of his western frontier possessions, on this 
account, look as if they belonged to a non-resident propri- 
etor. To this remark Fort Eilcy forms a bright exception. 

We reached Weston, a town of about four thousand in- 
habitants, in Missouri, on the cast side of the river, three 
and a half miles north of Fort Leavenworth, on Saturday. 

This place is the head-quarters of the " Platte County 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 25 



Self-defensive Association, which is composed of a number 
of enthusiastic patriots, who have entered into solemn league 
and covenant to protect the Patriarchal Institution from the 
Abolition hordes which are hovering, like a cloud, on the 
borders of southern civilization, and preparing, by the intro- 
duction of Christianity and liberty, to put an end to the 
progress of the human race. Platte county has set its face 
like a flint, against the introduction of such fatal novelties 
as liberty for all — education for all — and the free use of the 
Word of God ! At Weston was enacted the silly, but very 
expensive farce, of offering two hundred dollars reward for 
Eli Thayer. That advertisement will cost Weston, in the 
loss of commerce, more thousands of dollars than there were 
mills offered for Mr. Thayer. There are, in Platte county, 
a few precious drops of the very essence of slavery, undi- 
luted either with humanity or common sense ; and this ad- 
vertisement is a fair expression of its spirit and its wisdom. 

Neither the advertisement, however, nor the resolutions 
of this Association, express the sentiments of the people of 
W^eston, whose business they have injured. They originated 
with a very small, blustering clique of lawyers and politi- 
cians, who desired a little notoriety, and who were supported, 
to some extent, by the slaveholders in the county adjacent. 

But the business men of Weston soon saw that such a 
course would ruin the commerce of their town, and would 
drive from them a profitable eastern trade, which they are 
anxious to secure. This produced a speedy reaction, and 
the following circular, signed by one hundred and seventy 
citizens of Weston, shows into what contempt the "Fire- 
eaters," have brought themselves, and how surely the com- 
3 



26 JOUEXEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

mercial interests of the river towns will compel a liberal 
policy in regard to the settlers of Kansas, and in general 
toward the whole east. 

"citizens' meeting. 

" Weston, September 1, 1854. 

" At a meeting of the citizens of Weston and vicinity, G. W. Gist 
was called to the Chair, and Jos. B. Evans appointed Secretary. On 
motion of W. S. Murphy, ilr. J. B. Wright was called on to explain 
the object of the meeting. Mr. Wright addressed the meeting in an 
eloquent and able manner. 

"On motion of G. T. Hulse, a Committee was appointed to draft 
resolutions expressive of the sentiment of the meeting. The follow- 
ing persons were selected: (Jeo. T. Hulse, J. Y. Parrot, Ben. Wood, 
E. Cody, Col. Eailey, W. S. Murphy and A. B. Hathaway. Said 
committee retired, and after a short absence, reported the following 
resolutions, -wrhich were adopted by acclamation : 

" WHEREAS, Our rights and privileges, as citizens of Weston, Platte 
county, Mo., have been disregarded, infringed upon, and grievously 
violated within the last few weeks, by certain members of the ' Platte 
County Self-Defensive Association ; " and whereas, the domestic 
quiet of our families, the sacred honor of our sons and daughters, 
the safety of our property, the security of our living and persons, the 
♦ good name ' our fathers left us, the ' good name ' of us all — and 
the city of our adoption — and each and all disrespected, and vile'y 
aspersed, and contemptuously threatened with mob-violence ; wherefore, 
it is imperatively demanded, that ice, in mass-meeting assembled, on 
this, the first day of September, A. D. lS-54:, do make prompt, honor- 
able, effective and immediate defense of our rights ajid privileges as citizens 
of this glorious Union. Therefore, 

"Besolved, 1, That ice whose names are heretmto afi&xed, are order- 
loving and law-abiding citizens. 

" Resolved, 2, That we are Union men. We love the south much, but 
we love the Union better. Our motto is — the Union first, the Union 
second, and the Union forever. 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. ^ 27 

«' Resolved, 3, That Ave disapprove the Bayliss resolution as contain- 
ing nullification, disunion and disorganiziyig sentiments. 

•' Resolved, 4, That we as consumers, invite and solicit our mer- 
chants to purchase their goods wherever it is most advantageous to 
the buyer and the consumer. 

" Resolved, 5, That we hold every man as entitled to equal respect 
and confidence, until his conduct proves him unworthy of the same. 

" Resolved, 6, That we understand the ' Douglass bill ' as giving 
all the citizens of this Confederacy equal rights and equal immuni- 
ties in the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska. 

" Resolved, 7, That we are believers in the dignity of labor ; it does 
not necessarily detract from the moral nor intellectual character 
of man. 

" Resolved, 8, That we are competent to judge who shall be expelled 
from our community, and who shall make laws for our corporation. 

^^ Resolved, 9, That inere suspicion is not a ground of guilt; mob- 
law can only be tolerated when all other law fails, and then, only 
on proof of guilt. 

^^ Resolved lOfh, and lastly, That certain members of the Platte 
County Self-Defensive Association have 2?roclaimcd and advocated, and 
attempted to force measures upon us, contrary to the foregoing principles, 
which measures we do solemnly disavow, and disapprove, and utterly 
disclaim, as being diametrically opposed to common and constitu- 
tional law, and as having greatly disturbed, and well-nigh destroyed 
the order, the peace, and the harmony of our families and commu- 
nity, and as being but too well calculated seriously to injure us, in 
our property and character, both at home and abroad. We will 
thus ever disavow and disclaim. 

'• On motion of Samuel J. Finch, it was 

" Resolved, That both papers published in the city of "Weston, be 
requested to publish the foregoing preamble and resolutions, and 
all papers throughout the States, friendly to law and order, are 
hereby requested to copy the same. 

"J. B. Evans, Sec'y. G. W. GIST, C7m'w." 



28 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

From St. Louis down to the smallest business town of the 
river, eastern settlers and eastern capital will be welcomed ; 
and the same interests of commerce will just as surely throw 
their influence, ultimately, in favor of Kansas becoming a 
free State. Thus, while commerce helps to sustain slavery 
in the east, it will inevitably aid to check it in the west, 
and foster the interests of freedom. 

There is not the least reason to fear any serious collision 
between eastern settlers and the citizens of Missouri and 
other slaveholding States. The western merchants desire 
the business which eastern men and capital will create, and 
those who are speculating in city lots, must equally desire 
the influx of capital and men. 

Mutual interests will make mutual friends ; and we may 
be thankful that the east and the extreme west are thus 
mingled in the providence of God, in a manner which may 
allay prejudice and bitterness on both sides. Kansas may 
yet prove the neutral ground where the seeds of good-will 
may be sown ; where the beginnings of peace may be found, 
and where the South and West may come to a candid and 
friendly discussion of the whole subject of slavery. 

The lands in the vicinity of Weston, Missouri, are among 
the most fertile and beautiful in the State ; and we thought 
it well to visit them before crossing into Kansas, in order 
that we might have the means of comparing the Territory 
with the richest regions in the States. We accordingly 
rode back among the hemp-growing farms around Weston. 
This district is high and rolling, resembling, in its general 
features, the region of southern Ohio around Cincinnati ; but 
the soil is a deep black vegetable mould, to the very hill- 



JOURXEY THROUGH KANSAS. 29 

tops, equal, and we could not but feel superior, in fertility, 
to the best portions of the Miami or Scioto valley : a finer 
country need not be desired, if heavy timber is not consid- 
ered an objection. This timber consists, principally, of 
black walnut, elm, sugar-maple, and oak, with cottonwood 
in the bottoms. This country is divided from Kansas only 
by the Missouri river, and farms are worth from twenty to 
fifty dollars per acre, according to location and other cir- 
cumstances which affect value. The later crops had all been 
injured by the drouth, but still every thing wore the aspect 
of luxuriance, and extensive apple and peach orchards, in 
vigorous health, showed how well adapted the climate is to 
the growing of fruit. Peaches were selling, in Weston, at 
fifty cents per bushel, of fair, but not choice varieties. 

After this visit to the hemp-lands of Missouri, we felt 
ourselves prepared to form an intelligent opinion of Kansas, 
and having provided ourselves with two horses and a light 
California wagon, in which we could sleep, if necessary, we 
crossed the Missouri at the steam ferry, about two miles 
below Weston. 



CHAPTER YL 

WESTON FEBRY AND ITS SHIBBOLETH — ENTBANCE INTO 
THE TERBITOBY. 

On Tuesday morning, September 8, we reached that cele- 
brated steam-ferry of Weston, where, as it was said, in the 
early part of the season, the inexorable Missouri Charon 
drove back every one that betrayed his Yankee origin by his 
pronunciation of the word coio ; and he was sent home to 
wander on the benighted shores of the east, and to starve 
on the rocks of the Pilgrims. But the eastern flood has 
drowned out the Examining Committee, and they are vainly 
waiting for the "ebb that cometh not." There might bo 
established at that ferry a very effectual, almost certain, 
test — if there was no oath, in the first two sentences uttered 
by a stranger, he might be turned back safely as not a 
native of those parts. 

Shiftlessness is a most expressive word, and it conveys 
more accurately, than any other I know, the leading charac- 
teristic of life in a slaveholding region. There is an utter 
lack and helplessness, in regard to all those expedients which 
insure convenience and comfort, with which a northern man 
is so familiar. Every thing is accomplished with the rudest 
means and most inconvenient manner. The western steam 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 31 

ferry would not be tolerated, in any important position, in 
an eastern State, for a single day. It would not only be 
the laughing-stock of a community, but would be abated as 
a nuisance. The descent to the boat is at an angle of nearly 
forty-five degrees, though nothing hinders the formation of 
a safe and easy gTade ; and, after what we had previously 
seen, we were surprised that the negroes were not used to 
carry the horses and wagons on board on their shoulders, as 
the simplest of all methods. 

Over an open space, between the landing and the guards 
of the boat, some loose boards were cast ; and thus the peril- 
ous plunge into the boat must be made. Fortunately, neither 
our necks or the horses' legs were broken. Another heavy 
lumber- wagon was, however, overturned in the attempt. On 
the opposite side, where an industrious man, with a few 
hours' work, could make a comfortable road, teams are 
obliged to clamber almost perpendicularly up the sand-bank ; 
and for such accommodations the State of Missouri allows 
the proprietor of the ferry, to take from the owner of a two- 
horse team one dollar; and if his statements are true, at 
least six thousand people have crossed this ferry in one 
direction, {westward) this season, already. This, however, 
includes the California emigrants. 

The first hour spent in Kansas, served to make a lively 
impression in regard to its fertility. From the ferry to Fort 
Leavenworth, three and a half miles, our road lay along the 
Missouri bottom, where every description of vegetation 
seemed to be on the magnified scale. The timber, princi- 
pally Cottonwood, oak and elm, was remarkably fine, many 



32 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

of the trees five and six feet in diameter, and conspicuously 
tall. Everything indicated a soil of exceeding richness. 

Such bottoms are, however, by no means peculiar to 
Kansas. They are a common feature along the whole line 
of the majestic Missouri. They are fertile as heart could 
wish, but considered unhealthy, and on that account, are, as 
yet, not extensively cultivated. 

Fort Leavenwort i is beautifully situated on the swelling 
river hills. By the politeness of ]\Iajor Ogden, we received 
such information and instruction concerning our route to 
Fort Eiley, as assured us of a more pleasant journey than 
we anticipated, and we are also under great obligations to 
Dr. Mills, for an abstract from his meteorological record, 
giving us the means of instituting an important comparison 
in reference to the climate of Kansas. 

Fort Leavenworth is an important position, as being the 
principal point of departure, for troops and Government 
supplies of all kinds, for Santa Fe, Fort Eiley, Fort Laramie 
and Kearney, and other western stations, and the number 
of horses, mules, oxen wagons, and the large amount of 
stores of all kinds, required in these operations, is an im- 
portant item to be considered in the prospects of the future 
agriculturists of Kansas. 

For the purpose of giving an idea of the extent of this 
trade, we will mention here, that while at Council Grove, 
two trains of wagons passed, drawn by one hundred and 
eighty pair of oxen, while as many more were driven which 
were unyoked — ^beside horses and mules. These had been 
out to New Mexico with Government stores. 



CHAPTER VII. 

GEOGRAPHICAL AND COMMERCIAL DIVISIONS. 

Kansas is separated into three geographical districts, 
whicli deserve a separate consideration, and it has, also, 
from the features of the country, commercial divisions, which 
are differently arranged. Geographically, there is an east- 
em district, lying along the river and State of JMissouri ; a 
western one, stretching along the eastern base of the Kocky 
mountains, and a central tract, whose width, boundaries and 
general character, are somewhat variously stated. It has 
been stated, that the eastern district is bounded westward 
by a clearly defined, though waving line, where the fertile 
agricultural region terminates abruptly, and the line of a 
sandy desert begins. It has also been said, that this divid- 
ing line between the desert and the eastern farming district, 
runs from eighty to one hundred and fifty miles only, west 
of the Missouri river. This may be nearly correct in regard 
to Nebraska, but it does not convey a correct idea of Kansas. 

After having availed ourselves of all known sources of 
information, in addition to personal observation ; after con- 
versations with intelligent persons, who have passed over 
portions which we did not visit, we conclude, that what we 
have called the eastern district, does not end abruptly at the 
edge of a sandy desert, but that its western portion changes 



34 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

its character gradually, as the slope of the " Great Plateau" 
is ascended toward the sources of the streams, till at a dis- 
tance of about two hundred and fifty miles from the Mis- 
souri, the river valleys are narrow, and the prairie between 
them is sandy and dry. 

If asked to point out the western boundary of this agri- 
cultural region, we should draw a line whose average distance 
from the Missouri would be about two hundred and fifty 
miles, but bending westward, still beyond this, on the head 
waters of the Kansas. This is an opinion to be afiirmcd or 
©orrected hereafter. We are, however, quite satisfied, that 
a good farming region extends much farther westward, in 
Kansas, than has been generally supposed, and that future 
investigation will very much reduce the dimensions of what 
has been called the American Desert. In confirmation of 
this opinion, the following quotation from Col. Fremont's 
Journal, by which it will appear that there is a fine country 
on the head streams of the Kansas, some three hundred 
miles from its mouth. The starting point, in this extract, 
is at Fort Eiley, at the confluence of the Smoky Hill and 
Eepublican Forks, which form the Kansas. On the 14th 
July, it will be remarked, he was two hundred and sixty- 
five miles from the mouth of the Kansas ; that he was travel- 
ing westward, and nine days after, the appearance of the 
country is described in the last paragraph. It was by no 
means a desert. 

" We arrived, on July 8th, at the mouth of the Smoky 
Hill Fork, which is the principal southern branch of the 
Kansas, forming here, with the Eepublican or northern 
branch, the main Kansas river. For several days we con- 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 35 

tinued to travel along the Kepublican, through a a untry 
beautifully watered with numerous streams, handsomely 
timbered; and rarely an incident occurred to vary the 
monotonous resemblance which one day on the prairies here 
bears to another, and which scarcely require a particular 
description. Now and then we caught a glimpse of a small 
herd of elk ; and occasionally, a band of antelopes, whose 
curiosity sometimes brought them within rifle range, would 
circle round us, and then scour off into the prairies. 

" The bottoms, which form the immediate valley of the 
main river, were generally about three miles wide, having a 
rich soil of black vegetable mould, and, for a prairie country, 
well interspersed with wood. The country was everywhere 
covered with a considerable variety of grasses, occasionally 
poor and thin, but far more frequently luxuriant and rich. 
We had been gradually and regularly ascending in our 
progress westward, and, on the evening of the 14th, when 
we encamped on a little creek in the valley of the Eepub- 
lican, two hundred and sixty-five miles by our traveling road 
from the mouth of the Kansas, we were at an elevation of 
one thousand five hundred and twenty feet. 

** On the morning* of the 16th, bearing a little out from the 
river, with a view of heading some of the numerous affluents, 
after a few hours' travel, over somewhat broken ground, we 
entered upon an extensive and high level prairie, on which 
we encamped, toward evening, at a little stream, where a 
single dry cottonwood afforded the necessary fuel for pre- 
paring supper. 

" The country afforded us an excellent road, the route 
being generally over high and very level prairies, and we 



36 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

met with no other delay than being frequently obliged to 
bridge one of the numerous streams, which were well-tim- 
bered with ash, elm, cottonwood and a very large oak, the 
latter being occasionally five or six feet in diameter, with 
a spreading summit. Sida coccinea is very frequent in 
vermilion-colored patches on the high and low prairie, and I 
remarked that it has a very pleasant perfume. The wild 
sensitive plant (schranhia angustata) occurs frequently, 
generally on the dry prairies, in valleys of streams, and 
frequently on the broken prairie bank. I remark that the 
leaflets close instantly to a very light touch. Amorpha 
with the same psoralea, and a dwarf species of lupinus, are 
the characteristic plants. 

'^ June 21. During the forenoon, we traveled up a branch 
of the creek on which we had encamped, in a broken coun- 
try, where, however, the dividing ridges always aiforded a 
good road. Plants were few ; and with the short swards of 
the buffalo grass, which now prevailed everywhere, giving 
to the prairies a smooth and mossy appearance, were min- 
gled frequent patches of a beautiful red grass (aristida 
pollens), which has made its appearance only within the last 
few days. AVe halted to noon at a solitary cottonwood, in a 
hollow, near which was killed the first buffalo — a fine bull. 

** At noon, on the 23d, we descended into the valley of a 
principal fork of the Eepublican, a beautiful stream, with 
a dense border of wood, consisting principally of varieties 
of ash, forty feet wide and four feet deep. It was musical 
with the notes of many birds, which, from the vast expanse 
of silent prairie around, seemed all to have collected here. 
We continued, during the afternoon, our route along the 



JOURNEY TimOUGH KANSAS. 37 

river, wliich was populous with prairie-dogs (the bottoms 
Ibeing entirely occupied with their villages), and late in the 
evening, encamped on its banks. The prevailing timber is 
a blue-foliaged ash (fraxinus, near F. Americana) and 
ash-leaved maple. With these were Fraxinus Americana, 
Cottonwood and long-leaved willow." 

There is, doubtless, a central belt of land, both in Kansas 
and Nebraska, where little rain falls, from the fact, that the 
west winds are deprived of their moisture, by the mountain 
ranges on the west ; while this tract itself lies west of the 
line reached by the winds that come northward, from the 
Gulf of Mexico. The plains, in this district, are destitute 
of timber, the soil is sandy and the buffalo grass alone 
covers the surface with a scanty verdure. This, however, is 
an exceedingly nutritious grass, and the same country which 
supports such multitudes of buffalo, elk, antelopes and deer, 
is equally capable of affording pasturage for the flocks and 
herds of civilized life. To the westward, and as the base 
of the Kocky mountains is approached, an elevated region 
is reached — the western New England, or American Switzer- 
land, abounding in beautiful streams, timber, and fertile and 
sheltered valleys. Here fall the intercepted rains, which, 
but for the mountain walls, would travel eastward, and be 
precipitated upon the broad plains beyond. 

The general character of this mountainous country is 
nearly the same both in Nebraska and Kansas, except that 
the valleys of the south are milder than those in the high 
northern latitudes of Nebraska. The following description, 
by Colonel Fremont, of the regions around the sources of the 
Platte, or Nebraska, would be equally correct if applied to 



38 JOURNEY THROUGH IvANSAS. 

the western districts of Kansas. He was traveling west- 
ward, toward the mountains and up the valley of the Ne- 
braska. 

^'June 14. Our route lay along the foot of the mountain, 
over the long, low spurs which sloped gradually down to the 
river, forming the broad valley of the Platte. The country 
beautifully watered. In almost every hollow ran a clear, 
cool mountain stream ; and, in the course of the morning, 
we crossed seventeen, several of them being large creeks, 
forty and fifty feet wide, with a swift current, and tolerably 
deep. These were variously wooded with groves of aspen 
and Cottonwood, with willow, cherry, and other scrubby 
trees. Buffalo, antelope, and elk, were frequent during the 
day, and in their abundance the latter sometimes reminded 
us slightly of the Sacramento valley. The next day we con- 
tinued our journey up the valley, the country presenting 
much the same appearance, except that the grass was more 
scanty on the ridges, over which was spread a scrubby 
growth of sage ; but still the bottoms of the creeks were 
broad, and afforded good pasture ground. Our course in 
the afternoon brought us to the main Platte river (Nebras- 
ka), here a handsome stream, with a uniform breadth of 
seventy yards, except where widened by frequent islands. 
It was apparently deep, with a moderate current, and wooded 
with groves of large willow. 

"The valley narrowed as we ascended, and presently 
degenerated into a gorge, through which the river passed as 
through a gate. We entered it, and found ourselves in the 
'New Park,' a beautiful, circular valley of thirty miles' 
diameter, walled in all round with snowy mountains, rich 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 39 

with water and with grass, fringed with pine on the moun- 
tain sides below the line — and a paradise to all grazing 
animals. The Indian name for it signifies 'cow lodge,' of 
which our own may he considered a translation ; the inclo- 
sure, the grass, the water, and the herds of buffalo roaming 
over it, naturally presenting the idea of a park. Its eleva- 
tion above the sea is seven thousand seven hundred and 
twenty feet. From this elevated cove, and from the gorges 
of the surrounding mountains, and some lakes within their 
bosoms, the gi'eat Platte (Xebraska) river collects its first 
waters and assumes its first form ; and certainly no river 
could ask a more beautiful origin. The 16th and 17th we 
continued through the park, and fell into a broad and excel- 
lent trail made by bufi'alo, where a wagon would pass with 
ease. In the course of the 17th we crossed the summit of 
the Eocky mountains, through a pass, which was one of the 
most beautiful we had ever seen. The trail led us among 
the aspens, through open grounds, richly covered with grass, 
and carried us over an elevation of about nine thousand feet 
above the level of the sea. Descending from the pass, we 
found ourselves again on the western waters, and halted to 
noon on the edge of another mountain-valley called the Old 
Park, in which is formed Grand river, one of the principal 
branches of the Colorado of California. The appearance of 
the country, in the Old Park, is interesting, though of a 
different character from the New : instead of being a com- 
parative plain, it is more or less broken into hills, and sur- 
rounded by the high mountains, timbered on the lower parts 
with quaking asp and pines." 

The conclusion then is, that a much larger proportion of 



40 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

both Kansas and Nebraska, particularly the former, is sus- 
ceptible of cultivation than has been supposed, and that 
Kansas possesses the elements of one of the largest and most 
powerful States in the Union. Very little, if any, of her 
Territory will remain a desert. 

In comparing Kansas with other Territories, or the States, 
it must be remembered that, in her eastern division, there 
are from forty thousand to fifty thousand square miles, in 
all of which there are almost no waste lands. There are no 
barren mountains, no swamps or marshes, no lakes, and no 
rocky hills. It is one vast, undulating plateau, exceedingly 
fertile, and ready for the plow. How many States in the 
Union can boast of even forty thousand square miles, which 
will admit of being cultivated ? Add to this her central 
pasture grounds and her New England regions on the west, 
making in all more than one hundred and twenty thousand 
square miles, and it will be seen that, with her coal and 
mineral resources in general, she has the elements of an 
empire State. 

Of the commercial divisions of the Territory, and the 
course of its future commerce, no very accurate opinions 
can be formed at this early period, yet there are certain 
large features of the country, which, instead of being 
changed themselves, must give direction to lines of commu- 
nication, and determine the location of towns. 

The northern portion of Kansas, on the Nemaha river, and 
Wolf creek, and the tributary streams, is nearer to the Mis- 
souri than to the Kansas valley, and this district will therefore 
demand a commercial depot of its own, on the Missouri ; and 
as the railroad now in process of construction, from Hannibal 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 41 

on tlie Mississippi, v/estward, terminates at St. Josepli, it 
would seem, that in Kansas, somewhere in the vicinity of 
St. Joseph, a large town would naturally he built. 

West from the Missouri, at this point, the country is 
fertile, and, in general, supplied with timber, and well 
watered, to the neighborhood of Fort Kearney, including the 
head waters of the Big Blue and Vermilion. 

Time alone can determine what direction may be given to 
the trade of the western portion of this district, and whether 
it will seek the Missouri direct, or the valley of the Kansas. 

The second, and central district, is the valley of the 
Kansas, including the valleys of the Smoky Hill and Eepub- 
lican forks, which unite at Fort Eiley, to form the Kansas. 

The importance of this district, over the other two, will 
depend, we think, upon two questions: first, whether the 
route of the Pacific Eailroad shall follow the valley of the 
Kansas. The main facts bearing upon this question are, 
that a road intended as a part of the Great Central Eoute, 
is already located, from St. Louis to the mouth of the Kan- 
sas, as its present western terminus, and this road is soon 
to be opened to Jeff"erson City, one hundred and thirty miles 
from the Kansas line. Col. Fremont is also engaged, at the 
present time, in determining the exact position of a Pass 
in the Eocky mountains, supposed to be in the very latitude 
of the mouth and valley of the Kansas. The powerful 
interests connected with the construction of a road over 
the Central Eoute, seem to render it certain, that it will 
be opened at an early date, and it seems equally certain, 
that it must follow the Kansas valley. 

A second question affectinfir the importance of this central 
4 



42 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

or Kansas valley district is, whether the Kansas shall prove 
to be navigable, for such a portion of the year as to render 
it valuable as a commercial channel. 

The river has not yet been thoroughly examined. It is, 
doubtless, navigable for from four weeks to six weeks in the 
spring, as far as Fort Eiley, and boats for that period may 
run one hundred or one hundred and fifty miles further up 
the Smoky Hill fork. The appearance of the Kansas, at 
every point where we examined it, between Fort Kiley and 
its mouth, produced at once the impression, that it must be 
navigable for boats drawing eighteen or twenty inches of 
water, in even its lowest stage. Such is the opinion of most 
with whom we conversed, who had given the subject atten- 
tion, and so great is the confidence in this opinion, that, as 
we were informed by one of the owners of the Excel, the 
boat which went up to Fort Eiley last summer, that several 
small boats will be put upon the Kansas next season. We 
crossed the Kansas about one hundred miles from its mouth, 
and found it about three hundred yards wide, with five feet 
water in the channel, and running with a strong current. 

A thorough survey can alone determine the practicability 
of navigation through the summer, but we feel much confi- 
dence that the experiment will prove successful. 

Should it so prove, or should the railroad be constructed 
along this valley, thv3n this central district will off"er advan 
tages for settlement, superior, at least for the present, to 
either of the other two, and in this case, also, a large por- 
tion of the commerce of the first, or northern district, will 
be drawn southward, along the tributaries of the Kansas, 
to the towns on that river and the railroad. 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 43 

The third district occupies the southern and southeastern 
portion of the Territory, and is drained by the head waters 
of the Osage and Xeosho rivers. A ridge of high prairie, 
called in the language of the country a " divide,^' separates 
these waters from those which fall into the Kansas. This 
ridge we crossed in passing from Fort Eiley to Council 
Grove, a distance of thirty to thirty-five miles, and found 
about fifteen miles of it stony, though with a dark, rich soil, 
and fitted only for pasturage. In descending from this ridge 
we came into a most beautiful region, with a fair supply of 
timber upon the head waters of the Xeosho river, where is 
the well-known trading post, on the Santa Fe road, called 
Council Grove or Big Spring. 

This southeastern district is traversed, in the vicinity of 
Council Grove, and eastward toward Fort Leavenworth, by 
numerous small streams, some at this time dry, or nearly so, 
running southeasterly and forming the Xeosho and Osage 
rivers. 

We are inclined to think that this district is milder in 
its climate than that of the other two, and so far as we 
could judge, is quite equal to either in the fertility of its 
soil. Here, by early planting, a good potato crop, and per- 
haps half a crop of corn were raised, notwithstanding the 
drouth. It has no navigable streams, and for increased 
commercial facilities, must depend upon a railway either to 
the Kansas or to the southwestern branch railway from St. 
Louis, which strikes Xeosho at or near the southeastern 
corner of the Territory. By the Santa Fe road, from Coun- 
cil Grove to Kansas, at the mouth of the Kansas river, is 
about one hundred and thirty miles. 



44 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

Through the southern portion of Kansas the Arkansas 
river flows from the Eocky mountains, to within about one 
hundred and forty miles of its eastern border— a distance 
of nearly five hundred miles. What is called the Big Bend 
is wholly within the Territory of Kansas. 

Of this portion of the Territory we can not speak from 
personal observation. Trom the testimony of an intelli- 
gent gentleman of our acquaintance who has passed down 
the Arkansas valley, from a point nearly south of Council 
G-rove, we are led to consider this disfrict as ecj^ual in fer- 
tility and general advantages to any other section of the 
country. 

The Arkansas is much the largest stream which flows 
through the Territory, and is supposed to be navigable above 
Fort Gibson, and within the limits of Kansas, except in 
seasons of low water. That portion of the Arkansas val- 
ley which lies in Kansas, is in the latitude of Southern Vir- 
ginia, and the nature of its climate and the character of its 
productions, may be inferred from this fact. It is said to 
be well timbered, especially in its eastern division. This 
valley, we think, should be at once thoroughly explored, 
and the nature of its soil, climate and resources, accurately 
ascertained. 

. Should it answer the expectations we have been led to 
form, from description, it would off'er great advantages to a 
large colony possessed of considerable capital. 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

SCENEEY AND INCIDENTS. 

This completes a general or outline survey of tlie Terri- 
tory of Kansas. We will now return to the starting point 
of our journey in tlie Territory, which was Fort Leaven- 
worth, and enter somewhat into details, mingling with our 
statements so much of the incidents of our journey, as may 
serve to illustrate our general theme, and convey a vivid 
impression of the country. We had already passed through 
Indiana, from Lawrenceburgh "by Indianapolis to Michigan 
City, and through Illinois from Chicago to Alton ; and as we 
were about to enter again a prairie land, we supposed our- 
selves already acquainted with the general features of the 
country, and expected a journey wearisome from the mono- 
tony of its aspect, and its similarity to what had been 
already seen. But the first hour's ride over the prairies of 
Kansas, spread before us such a picture, varying every mo- 
ment and beautiful in every change, as we had no previous 
conception of, and drew from us continued expressions of a 
delight that would not be suppressed. One can form no 
correct idea of the prairies of Kansas by a previous knowl- 
edge of those of Indiana and Illinois ; and residents in Iowa 
add the same remark of theirs. How, without the majesty 



46 JOURNEY TIIKOUGH KANSAS. 

of mountains or lakes, or broad rivers, and with so few colors 
as here are seen, such an effect can be produced, is worthy 
the study of artists. It is a magnificent picture of God, 
that stirs irresistibly and inexplicably the soul of every 
beholder. Young and old, the educated and the unlearned, 
alike feel the influence of its spell, and each in his own 
language gives utterance to his delight and wonder, or 
stands breathless and mute. There are many scenes, in 
Kansas, that can scarcely be remembered even, without tears. 
The soul melts in the presence of the wonderful beauty of 
the workmanship of Grod. 

With ocean and mountains, with lakes and rivers, hill 
and valley, we had been familiar ; but here was an entirely 
new feature of the beauty of earth — a thing apart and pecu- 
liar, but equal to any in its power over the soul, whether to 
delight or awe. The Kansas prairies cannot be described — 
mere words cannot reproduce in another's mind the impres- 
sion which the scene has made ; but if a man sees them, he 
is moved, in spite of himself, and the moment he would 
speak of them to another, he feels the poverty of language — 
he finds no fitting words. 

The view, from the bluffs above Fort Eiley, at the conflu- 
ence of the Eepublican and Smoky Hill forks, is one of the 
most beautiful valley scenes on which the eye ever rested : 
it reminded me of some of the celebrated views on the Con- 
necticut, by none of which do I think it surpassed. Not 
a human dwelling, except an Indian wigwam, has been 
erected there, and yet it wore the aspect of a highly-culti- 
vated country. The green meadows and pasture lands 
stretched away to the limit of vision — the scattered tufts or 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 47 

copses of timber resembled orcbards or artificial groves, 
wbile tbe blufis on eitber band rose witb outlines wbicb, 
tbougb bold, were so flowing and graceful tbat it was a plea- 
sure to tbe eye to rest on tbem. Still, tbougb accurate 
description is so difficult, it will doubtless be expected tbat 
we sball make some statements concerning tbe general 
aspect of tbe country. Its structure may be said to be 
governed by its streams, along wbicb run, first, tbe level 
''river bottoms,'' on wbicb nearly tbe wbole of tbe timber of 
tbe country is found. Tbese are sometimes, tbougb not 
generally, too low for cultivation. On tbe Kansas river 
tbey are often five or six miles broad, and in fertility tbey 
are probably not surpassed by any lands on tbe continent. 
To tbese "river bottoms " succeeds a second level, elevated, 
perhaps, ten or fifteen feet above tbe first ; level also, and in 
appearance and fact, equally productive. Above tbese, and 
from seventy-five to one bundred feet above tbe river bed, 
lies tbe bigb rolling prairie, wbose ever- varying character 
gives to tbe country its picturesque appearance. 

Tbese features do not, of course, present themselves at all 
points witb tbe distinctness and regularity wbicb we have 
mentioned. Sometimes tbe two lower levels are blended 
into one, and again tbe streams, in tbeir windings, will 
sweep to tbe very base of tbe rolling bluifs. Tbe bigb 
prairie forms tbe general surface of tbe country, and consti- 
tutes one vast undulating table-land, wbose main slope is 
toward tbe east and southeast, wbile in its smaller divisions 
it presents every variety of exposure, yet every outline is a 
flowing one, rounded to the line of beauty. Conical mounds 
sometimes rise a hundred feet above the general level, with 



48 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

a formation as regular as if shaped by art. Some of these 
are visible at a distance of fifty miles or more, and are bold 
and impressive features of the landscape. Again, far in 
the distance the river bluffs appear like the walls of gigan- 
tic fortifications, with parapets and even towers, as if the 
vast amphitheater embraced in their long lines were guarded 
by watching armies. In some places the prairie sinks 
gently toward the river, with an easy slope several miles in 
breadth, exactly shaped for beautiful farms ; while in the 
background, under the shelter of the bluff, is the very spot 
for pleasant residences. 

Here the low hills sweep round enough for a single farm, 
and then they inclose sufficient for a little community. 
Whether a man desires a level farm, or with an eastern, 
western, northern, or southern exposure, he can be suited ; 
and if he desires all these combined in one location, he need 
not despair of finding even that, without one harsh or ab- 
rupt feature in the whole scene. 

We will make here but one remark, in reference to soil. 
In general, it appears to be a black vegetable mould, deep- 
est and purest, of course, in the bottoms, but usually hlach 
on the highest prairie ; there, however, it is mixed some- 
what with sand, which not only improves it for cultivation, 
but renders it more capable, than the low lands, of enduring 
drouth. On some of the higher bluffs we observed that this 
vegetable soil was not more than twelve inches thick, with 
a sandy subsoil, and at such points the surface was some- 
times strewn with pebbles. These, however, are exceptions, 
and even in such locations the color of the soil is black. 
In some districts this dark vegetable mould is mixed with 



JOURNEY THROUGH IGVNSAS. 49 

yellow sand and clay, so as to form a chocolate-colored soil, 
called by some the "mulatto soil," much prized for its 
fertility. 

OUR FIRST MEAL IN KANSAS. 

Incidents of travel, and descriptions of men and things, 
so far as they have a proper place in the picture of the 
country, may not be without interest even in such a report. 
We had been informed of a settlement which we might ex- 
pect to reach in season for dinner, on our first day of 
travel ; and at mid-day we found ourselves descending from 
the high rolling prairie, toward the dark-green line of fine 
thrifty timber that fringed and concealed a small stream 
now almost destitute of water. The small rivulet, however, 
was clear and bright — a living stream — that gave good 
promise for the health of Kansas. 

On the opposite side of the grove, called here " the timber," 
we discovered, first, a corn-field, then a log barn, then a 
blacksmith's shop, finally, a log cabin, which group, together, 
constituted ''the settlement f' and this, as we afterward 
found, was larger, by the barn and blacksmith's shop, than 
many Kansas ''settlements.'^ 

The *' settlement," was located on a level bottom, whose 
fertility seemed equal to man's utmost desire ; but the corn- 
field was the only experiment at cultivation, and that the 
severe drouth had injured. We found that " entertainment 
could be provided for man and beast." The youngest mem- 
ber of our party had just levied a small contribution on a 
flock of quails, and they, with a chicken born and brought 
up in the " settlement," formed the basis of a dinner just 



50 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

suited to the appetites that had been sharpened by the 
prairie breeze. 

Under the cool ''piazza'' of our log hotel, where as yet 
no dirty floor covered up the natural beauties of the rich 
soil, a remarkably intelligent colored woman spread the 
cloth. She was a slave, and the few slaves thus far brought 
into Kansas are, in general, like this woman, taken merely 
as house servants, while no slaveholder, so far as we could 
learn, has ventured to bring what they call their ''force'' 
that is, the field hands, into the Territory. She was cheer- 
ful, apparently, and with the sole charge of the household, 
even of the hotel bills and funds. There was but a single 
circumstance which interfered with the picture of a happy 
slave. Her husband was a free man, and she was sur- 
rounded by a family of bright, intelligent-looking children — 
a little group that neither father nor mother owned — that 
might at any moment be sold and driven off with the pigs 
and calves. 

To suppose an intelligent and high-minded mother, for 
such she was, happy under such circumstances, is a libel on 
the human heart. 

The cloth was very white, always a promise of good things 
to come. The cooking was satisfactory ; the preserved straw- 
berries and plums, both the produce of the country, were 
delicious — and a milkman of Cincinnati would have deemed 
it a perfect waste to have served up such milk, so capable 
of bearing almost any quantity of water. The chickens 
that were not excluded from our dining-room, appreciated, 
as we did, the good milk, and vigilantly watched, not 
always in vain, for a chance to dip their bills in the pan. 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 51 

Sundry dogs, the terror of polecats, and opossums, and 
prairie wolves, stood round our chairs, and seemed to think 
us no gentlemen in appropriating so much good meat to 
ourselves. 

The bill was moderate. The slave-woman, very appro- 
priately, as we thought, inasmuch as the slave code makes 
no distinction between brutes and men, placed us and our 
horses all on the same footing, and charged twenty-five 
cents a-piece all round for men and horses. 

A rainy afternoon followed, which did not much impede 
our progress over the beautiful prairie road. Contrary to 
our anticipations, the roads in the prairie do not soon become 
muddy, and they dry, moreover, rapidly, when the rain is 
over. Covered with rubber overcoats we could snap our 
fingers at the showers, and kept on our course without 
annoyance. 

Quails and prairie chickens were frequently seen in the 
road, or started up by the very sides of our carriage ; but as 
one of our horses had no military spirit whatever, and 
dreaded a gun as much as Falstafi^'s soldiers did, we could 
not shoot from the carriage, without a probable race over 
the prairies — and the birds guessed our intentions as soon 
as we stepped from the wagon. Just at sundown, far in the 
distance the figure of a horseman was just visible against 
the sky. Soon it was apparent that he was armed with a 
rifle, and then that he was an Indian and had planted him- 
self directly by the road, and with his gun laid across his 
saddle was silently awaiting our approach. He moved not 
as we drew near, but his glittering eye was fixed steadily 
on us, and it was not without some satisfaction that we 



52 JOURXEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

tliouglit of our revolver, and rifle, and double-barreled gun, 
all lying at hand. 

It required no great stretch of the imagination to make 
one suspect that he was bent on mischief. It was raining 
and growing dark, and for what fiendlj purpose he was 
there, on the lone prairie, at that hour, and in such a posi- 
tion, was not readily seen. 

AYhen we had approached within about fifteen feet, and 
he was abreast of our carriage, he hailed us, in words 
which we could not understand. It sounded like a high- 
wayman's challenge, though the expression of his counte- 
nance betokened no evil intention. Again and again he 
repeated his demand, of which we could make nothing. At 
last we understood " Chebok, chebok," and when he sum- 
moned all his English and added, " give some," -we {ound 
out that the poor fellow had been waiting all that time in 
the rain so patiently, in the hope of getting from us a quid 
of tobacco. It is doubtful whether he believed us, when by 
signs we endeavored to show him that none of us either 
chewed or smoked tobacco. He seemed, like the dogs at 
the table, to think us no gentlemen, 

We met with many amusing circumstances, showing the 
passion of the Indians for tobacco, in which it is but fair 
to the red man to say, they are more than matched by the 
white man's appetite in that region, and, so far as we could 
observe, the Indians were not so filthy in its use as their 
civilized neighbors. 

At Council Grove, the family with whom we were staying 
had gone out on the Sabbath, leaving us in charge of the 
house. The Kaws, to the number of fifteen hundred, were 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 53 

encamped near by, and companies of them througli the day, 
sometimes to the number of fifty, were in and around the 
house. 

One old veteran came up '' :> us with his blandest smile, 
which was very winning, set off as it was, by his shaved 
head, all but the crest and scalping-lock, and daubings 
with red paint, and went through with a very expressive 
pantomime, though ivhat it expressed we could not tell. But 
he gestured still more earnestly, and smiled still more 
sweetly, till it thrilled our very scalp locks, yet we compre- 
hended not. 

At last he drew from beneath his blanket a bunch of 
matches, and drawing one over his hands succeeded in con- 
veying his idea. He wanted us to loan him a pipe with 
which to smoke. AVe signified that we had no such article. 
But he was not easily bafiled. He showed us that we could 
go up into the private room of our host, and by unlocking 
or breaking open a closet there, we could find a pipe, and 
he manifested no great regard for us when we refused. 

At another time we saw an Indian, splendidly dressed, 
coming over the prairie at a rapid gallop. He reminded 
us of many a picture of an oriental chief. His head-dress, 
a sort of turban, was scarlet, and his blanket, also, was 
bright red, and of some rich material. He was evidently 
one of rank — a Pottawatomie. His leggins and moccasins 
were highly ornamented, and as he came dashing toward us, 
he looked as if he might be commissioned to warn the white 
man from his paternal lands. 

Alas, the romance all vanished when we found that he 
only wanted some "chebok." 



64 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 



FIRST NIGHT IN KANSAS. 

Night had set in, a dark and rainy one, and we were yet 
out on the broad prairie, how far from any dwellings of men, 
we knew not, with the not very pleasing prospect, that once 
out of the road we should be lost for the night. "We knew, 
also, that although we might perhaps follow the road on the 
prairie, it would be utterly impossible to thread its wind- 
ings in the utter darkness of the " timber." 

The announcement of a light ahead, was as welcome as 
" Land, ho !" to the weary and homesick sailor. We had 
reached "the town" of whose existence we had heard. A 
town is composed of two or more log-cabins. This had 
just the requisite number, two. We learned at once that 
one of these was full. At the other we gained admittance. 
For the benefit of those who have never seen a hotel in 
Kansas — ^who do not know what pioneer life is — who are not 
aware how a man can live without comforts, and be quite 
comfortable, if he has a contented mind, with very few even 
of the necessaries of life, we will give a brief description of 
the spot where we passed the first night in Kansas. 

It was on the bank of a clear and beautiful stream, about 
eighty-five feet wide in its then low estate, and the land 
upon its banks seemed rich enough to support the laziest 
farmer that ever grew fat on the unctuous river bottoms. 
The rain had made the black loam somewhat tenacious, and 
the mud on the hotel floor was, in the judgment of charity, 
a little shalloiver than it was without. It was of course a 
log dwelling, and it consisted of two rooms. One was bar- 
room, sitting-room, dining-room and sleeping apartments. 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 55 

and the other was cooking and wash-rooms, warehouse, ser- 
vants' rooms, and all other rooms needed for a hotel estab- 
lishment. The owners and all the inmates were Southern- 
ers, and with true hospitality the door stood wide open, and 
so did one of the two windows, and so they remained wide 
open night and day during our stay. With the window it 
seemed quite a matter of necessity to be open, as it was 
merely a " hole in the wall," without even a sash. An old 
colored woman whom they called " Beckie," was sole queen 
of the household, and mistress of ceremonies. She and her 
cook-stove, and meal-bag and wash-tub, and innumerable 
other things all dwelt together in the ''other room.'' 
Beckie' s last '' clarin up ifme" had evidently been ''long 
time ago," and yet before Beckie is condemned as no house- 
keeper, one should take a look at the place where, and 
means wherewith, she was expected to produce order and 
neatness. In fact, she seemed to feel that the state of things 
was a stain upon her reputation, and she declared privately 
that she had " only just come." 

Beckie had a kind, warm heart, under a skin that was of 
pure Ethiopian blackness, and when at the supper-table the 
blessing of God was asked for our food, she said that she 
believed it was the " first blessing that had ever been asked 
in the Territory;" that she had not heard a blessing in eight 
years ; that her old master was a member of a Baptist church, 
and at ''one time'' used to pray. Beckie expressed her 
sense of the value of freedom by saying that " she wouldn't 
be owned by any body for a thousand dollars," " she owned 
herself," and she thought " every body ought to own them- 
selves." The supper-table, and a stove, and four beds, as 



56 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

one might suppose, would be regarded as a set of furniture 
for one not very large room. But these were only the main 
articles, the outlines, as it were, while the "filling in" 
included all articles used for hunting, for farm and stable- 
work, beside cross-cut saws, harness, saddles and mill- 
gearing. The roof was plastered or ceiled, whichever may 
be the most expressive word, with strips of cotton cloth, 
nailed over the rafters, which were rough poles, and on 
hoop-poles laid across beams overhead, the musquito netting 
was ingeniously hung. 

This spot is presumed to be the site of a city yet unborn, 
and which at this time has only " cast its shadow before," 
in the shape of two log-cabins, and lots staked out, patiently 
waiting to be bought. Our fellow occupants of the hotel 
were the sovereign squatters on the site and had partici- 
pated largely in a meeting where terrible resolutions had 
been passed, excluding all abolitionists from Kansas, and 
making it (on paper) a slave State. A doctor and a law- 
yer were in the group. 

Now if the reader imagines that we were very uncom- 
fortable, and unhappy in such a spot and scene, he is wide 
of the mark. These "terrible resolution" men were very 
companionable, and appeared far better in private than they 
did in the newspapers. They came from the region where 
a reward was offered for that agitating Yankee, Eli Thayer, 
and yet we felt that every hair of our head was safe. 

The blessing of God was asked for our food — one of our 
friends produced a Bible, and we read, and knelt, and prayed 
together, and the abolitionists, and the ''fire-eaters'' three 
Yankees, one Kentuckian, and two Missourians slept under 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 57 

the same roof in peace. It was prophetic, as ^Ye could not 
hut hope, of what will yet take place, on a large scale, in 
Kansas. 

Such is the present exterior of things, heneath which are 
found kind hearts, hospitality and intelligence. Such rude 
walls cover many noble souls in Kansas, the germs of a 
future State. On this very spot there will soon be a real 
town, whose populous streets will present the attractions 
and refinements of cultivated society. 



CHAPTER IX. 

CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS. 

Kansas lies between the thirty-seventh and fortieth par- 
allels of north latitude. Xow if wc follow these parallels 
eastward, and observe the country which they inclose, an 
idea may be obtained of the climate and productions of this 
Territory, which needs only to be varied in view of local 
causes. To this should be added the fact, that the mouth 
of the Kansas is about seven hundred feet above the level 
of the sea. 

Following the boundaries of the Territory eastward to the 
Atlantic, we find its southern line passing through southern 
Missouri, central Kentucky, and southern Virginia. Its 
northern boundary runs through northern Missouri, central 
Illinois, central Indiana, southern Ohio, and southern Penn- 
sylvania, striking the sea-coast in the latitude of Phila- 
delphia. 

Except as modified by its remoteness from the ocean, we 
should expect that Kansas would resemble these States in 
its climate and productions. Experience has shown that its 
soil is capable of producing, in perfection, all the grains, 
vegetables, and fruits which can be grown in the middle 
States. If, as is stated, the latter part of the summer is 
often dry, though seldom visited by such a drouth as has 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 59 

this season prevailed through the whole country, it would 
indicate the necessity of early planting and sowing ; the 
advantages of which are, this season, shown by the fact that 
at Council Grove, early planted potatoes produced a good 
crop, and early planted corn also was not a failure. 

The ground is usually free from frost in the latter part 
of February, or early in March, and the character of the 
soil admits of early plowing ; earlier, it is said, than in the 
corresponding latitudes farther east. Fall planted potatoes 
might, perhaps, succeed best. 

The first frosts occur about the 1st of October ; but for 
two months later the prairies afford pasturage for stock, 
while young cattle, where they can be sheltered by the tim* 
ber, are wintered with very little feeding — though abun- 
dance of food and warm shelters will be found, as elsewhere, 
to be needed for the most profitable stock-raising. 

The meteorological records which were furnished us by 
the politeness of the officers at forts Leavenworth and Eiley, 
show that but small quantities of rain fell in the Territory 
during the winters, and consequently that the roads, except 
for a small portion of the year, must be in good condition, 
and the weather suitable for outdoor work. 



CHAPTEE X. 

TEMPERATURE AND QUANTITY OF RAIN. 

The rauge of the thermometer, in the "winters of 1853- 
4, was as follows : 



Jan. 











Port Leavenworth, 9 


o'clock, A. 


M. 




1853. 








18 


54. 






1. 


.17^ Feb. 


. 1. 


.43=' 


Jan 


. 1..31« 


Feb 


. 1. 


.U^ 


2 . 


. 16 


2. 


.23 


«( 


2.. 34 


<( 


2. 


.21 


3. 


. 1 


3. 


.32 


(( 


3.. 56 


" 


3. 


.23 


4. 


.15 


4. 


. 1 


(t 


4.. 43 


" 


4. 


. 37 


5. 


.20 


5. 


. 5 


(t 


5.. 8 


<« 


5. 


.38 


6. 


.37 


6. 


.12 


(( 


6.. 2 


<( 


6. 


.34 


7. 


.37 


7. 


.17 


({ 


7.. 18 


(( 


7. 


.33 


8. 


.36 


8. 


. 5 


(( 


8.. 19 


" 


8. 


.30 


9. 


.31 


9. 


.19 


{( 


9.. 33 


(( 


9. 


.42 


10. 


. 34 


10. 


.42 


t( 


10 . . 38 


«« 


10. 


.40 


11. 


.32 


11. 


.42 


<i 


11 . . 17 


<( 


11. 


.59 


12. 


.33 


12. 


.32 


<( 


12 . . 18 


(( 


12. 


.64 


13. 


.33 


13. 


.32 


« 


13.. 7 


i< 


13. 


.35 


14. 


.29 


14. 


.20 


(( 


14 . . 10 


(( 


14. 


.31 


15. 


. 23 " 


15. 


.41 


<( 


15 . . 28 


<( 


15. 


.17 


16. 


. 22 " 


16. 


.20 


« 


16.. 8 


(( 


16. 


.17 


17. 


.24 


17. 


.40 


(( 


17 . . 10 


(1 


17. 


.18 


18. 


,28 


18. 


.25 


(( 


18 . . 10 


«< 


18. 


.38 


19. 


.26 


19. 


.20 


(( 


19 . . 22 


" 


19. 


.39 


20. 


29 " 


20. 


.37 


i( 


20.. 8 


<t 


20. 


.38 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 



61 



ran. 21 . . 39° Feb 


.21. 


.41° 


Jan 


.21. 


. W Feb 


21. 


.37' 


" 22 . . 22 




22. 


.30 


" 


22 


. 


99 


.37 


" 23 . . 45 




23. 


.15 


" 


23. 


. 6 


23. 


.34 


" 24 . . 33 




24. 


.37 


(( 


24. 


.14 


24. 


.40 


" 25.. 33 




25. 


.34 


«' 


25. 


.40 


25 


.34 


" 26 . . 10 




26. 


.54 


(( 


26. 


.28 


26 


.32 


" 27 . . 36 




27. 


.50 


(( 


27. 


.20 


27 


.29 


" 28 . . 37 




28. 


.31 


" 


28. 


.40 


28 


.33 


« 29 . . 42 








(( 


29. 


.30 






" 30. . 31 








" 


30. 


. 57 






« 31.. 32 










31. 


.44 






28.41 




25.07 




22.08 




34.7^ 


MontlilyM 


ea 


n. 


" 






i( 







Position of tlie Thermometer 180 feet above Missouri. 



At Fort Eiley, one hundred and forty miles west of Fort 
Leavenworth, the monthly mean for Jan. 1854, was 23° 59 ^ 
and for February '54, 37° 11^ showing that at the western- 
most post the average temperature was a few degrees higher 
than on the Missouri river. 

In the years which these records cover, the highest range 
of the thermometer was, at Fort Leavenworth 102°, and at 
Fort Eiley 105^, during the last summer; and the lowest 
was at Fort Leavenworth, eight degrees below zero, and at 
Fort Riley, twelve degrees below zero. 

A record of temperature kept while we were in the Ter- 
ritory, compared with one for the corresponding days at 
Cincinnati, shows no important difference ; and the general 
conclusion is, that the climate of Kansas, in temperature, 
corresponds very nearly to that of southern Ohio, Kentucky, 



62 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 



and Virginia ; while from tlie data whicli we have been able 
to procure, the indications are that it is less variable. 

Another important question concerns the annual quantity 
of rain which falls in Kansas. 

The fact that the annual quantity of rain diminishes as 
we leave the coasts of continents for the interior, and that 
Kansas is nearly in the center of North America, would lead 
to the conclusion that it is a land of drought, unfit for agri- 
cultural purposes. Such indeed is the impression upon 
many minds ; and we were informed while on our journey, 
that so little rain falls at Fort Eiley and Council Grove, as 
to render the country nearly valueless. Fortunately, we 
have the means of a somewhat extended comparison, from 
which a perfectly reliable and scientific conclusion is reached. 



QUANTITY OF RAIN AT DIFFERENT POINTS. 

Fort Leavenworth, K. T., in 1853, 30 in. 45-lOOdths perp. depth. 

Annual mean quant. Cam., Mass., 38 

Western Reserve College, Ohio, 36 

Fort Crawford, Wisconsin, . . 30 

Marietta, Ohio 41 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, . . 45 

St. Louis, Missouri, 32 

British Islands, 32 

Western Franee, 25 

Eastern France, 22 

Central and North. Germany, . 20 

Hungary, 17 

Mean quantity for the Old World, 34 

Mean quantity for America, . . 35 



In this year of universal drought, we have not the means 
of a comparison, but at Fort Leavenworth, from January 1, 
1854, to August 31, the quantity was 12 in. 49-lOOdths. 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 63 

At Fort Kiley, one hundred and forty miles west of Fort 
Leavenworth, the quantity, for the same period, was 15 in. ; 
and at the same place, from November 1, 1853, to Septem- 
ber 15, 1854, the quantity was 24 in. 86-lOOdths. 

These facts, taken together, are quite sufficient to show 
that Kansas does not suffer from a deficiency of rain. In 
addition, it should be stated, that except in the river bot- 
toms, the soil is of a character that renders it a vast reser- 
voir of the water which falls. It sinks deep, and remains 
to supply the roots of slants when the surface is dry. 



CHAPTER XL 

STREAMS, SPRINGS, WELLS, TIMBER — ITS KINDS AND QUAN- 
TITY — MATERIALS FOR FENCES AND DWELLINGS. 

Kansas may be regarded as a land of springs and streams. 
The larger rivers are the Nemaha and Wolf creek in the 
north ; the Kansas, with its tributaries, occupjang the cen- 
tral valley, and the Arkansas with the head waters of the 
Osage and Neosho in the south. A glance at the map shows 
that these cover all the eastern division of the Territory 
with a network of waters. 

The head streams of the Kansas stretch far toward the 
Eocky mountains, while its main tributary on the north, the 
Big Blue, flows from within the limits of Nebraska. 

The Arkansas runs for about five hundred miles within 
the limits of the Territory, and while a portion of its valley 
is represented as sandy, yet all the lower portion is said to 
be heavily timbered and fertile, while its mild climate will 
recommend it to a large class of settlers. It is by no 
means destitute of groves and fertile tracts of land, high 
up toward its sources, as is shown by the settlement at 
Pueblo, which is more than five hundred miles west of the 
mouth of the Kansas, and the State of Missouri. 

The Neosho, the Marais De Cygnes, and the Osage in the 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 65 

southeast, find their sources in the region of country around 
Council Grove, which in beauty and fertility can scarcely 
be surpassed. 

We traveled through the country a distance of more than 
three hundred miles, and though many of the small streams 
and springs had become dry, as was the case in every other 
part of the country, yet we found no difficulty in obtaining 
water, at suitable intervals, for ourselves and horses, with- 
out leaving the main roads. 

It is a land of springs, which indeed might be inferred 
from its undulating character, and living water may proba- 
bly be found in nearly every section of land. It is probable 
that at some points wells must be depended on for the use 
of cattle, yet even this is questionable. The deepest well we 
saw had been sunk thirty-five feet, and the temperature of 
several which we tried was 54° Fahrenheit. 

Some of these wells and springs supply water suitable 
for washing, but in general, we think, it is what is called 
''hard:' 

Many good mill-sites are already known on the various 
streams, and some of them are occupied; but from the 
abundant indications of coal, it is probable, almost certain, 
that steam-power can be cheaply supplied, and will be 
chiefly employed for manufacturing purposes. 

We saw no streams in the country, except the Kansas, 
whose waters are turbid. Even those of the Big Blue 
are clear, and beautiful, reminding one of the streams of 
New England. The rivers and streams of the Territory 
abound with fish. 

Among the timber trees of the country, the following are 
6 



66 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

the chief: white oak, black oak, red oak, hickory, sugar-maple, 
red-flowering or soft-maple, poplar, cottonwood, elm, mucilagi- 
nous elm, sycamore, ash, black walnut, honey locust, black 
locust, linden, beech, wild cherry, hackberry and box elder. A 
few cedars were seen near the mouth of the Big Blue, and this 
tree is also found in the neighborhood of Fort Eiley. The 
western district abounds with pines, and other timber 
belonging to a colder climate and mountain ranges. 

In some locations on the north side of the Kansas, the 
timber is short, and has a scraggy, unthrifty appearance. 
In general, however, it seems not inferior to that of other 
sections of our country, and much of it has attained to a 
gigantic size. 

Many of the oaks are five or six feet in diameter, and the 
cottonwood is frequently larger even than that. The tim- 
ber at the junction of the Smoky Hill and Eepublican Forks, 
is remarkably fine, and where it is crossed by the Council 
Grove road, is more than two miles broad. 

Enormous elms, oaks, cottonwoods, and sycamores stand 
thick on all the ground. At the steam-mill there were 
solid logs, showing a thrifty growth four and five feet in 
diameter, of oak and cottonwood. On the upper tribu- 
taries of the Osage and Neosho, around Council Grove, the 
timber appears remarkably thrifty, and shoots up to a great 
hight — and there also, the quantity appears sufficient to 
supply every want. 

The general impression seems to be that the deficiency of 
timber is so great as to present a serious, if not insurmount- 
able obstacle to the settlement of the country, and conse- 
quently each squatter has made it his first object to secure a 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 67 

tract of timber both indispensable for his own farm, and as 
a profitable investment, from the opinion that timber and 
fuel must be both scarce and dear. 

This subject is one of prime importance, and deserves a 
careful consideration ; for if prairie farms, destitute of tim- 
ber, can not be cultivated successfully, then, except for 
stock-raising, Kansas will prove of but little value. If the 
prairie farmer is to be at the mercy of the owner of timber, 
and tree-tops, for fuel, are to be sold at five dollars per cord, 
as in some locations now, it will be long before the Terri- 
tory is clianged into a populous State. 

We incline to the opinion, however, that little difficulty 
need be apprehended from this cause, with judicious man- 
agement. First of all, there is more timber in Kansas than 
meets the eye of one passing through the country. It is 
confined to the margins of streams, and the low grounds, 
where it is partially or wholly concealed, until the over- 
looking eminence is reached. Again, God has provided 
three important and complete substitutes for timber and 
wood. At almost every point in the blufi's, just where it is 
most convenient and yet out of the way, is an abundance 
of limestone and sandstone, of a most excellent quality for 
buildings or for fences. Coal has been found at several 
points already, lying bare where it crops out in the blufi's, 
and indications of its presence are abundant throughout 
the Territory ; and the Osage orange grows in perfection, 
from which an impervious hedge is formed the third year. 

In such a country, thus supplied, neither a log-cabin nor a 
rail fence should ever be built. For fences, the Osage orange 
will probably be found, in general, the cheapest, as well as 



68 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

the most beautiful material. Yet in very many locations, 
stone fence can be constructed, as is believed, at one dollar 
per rod, and this has one great advantage over all others, it 
will stop the prairie fire. 

The mound and ditch, or sod fence, has been used in some 
parts of Missouri and Illinois, but is now very generally 
abandoned for the Osage hedge. It is said that a fence, 
woven from small hemp-cord, with meshes of about five 
inches, has been introduced in England, as a substitute for 
wire fences. It is saturated with some preparation of pitch, 
which preserves it from the efi"ects of the atmosphere, and 
is sufficiently strong. From the fact that it can be prepared 
and immediately put up, it may perhaps be worthy of a trial, 
at least as a temporary fence, while hedges are growing. 
The manufacture of this netting is a very simple matter, 
and it is also said that it will furnish a very cheap fence. 

There is evidently no necessity for consuming the timber 
of the country for fences, nor for being dependent upon the 
owners of timber, for this purpose. Xothing but a present 
and unavoidable necessity should induce a settler to erect a 
log-cabin in such a country as Kansas. In the first place, 
a comfortable log house, if such a thing can be, is a costly 
structure, and secondly, the useless waste of timber, as com- 
pared with a light and suitable frame, '* halloon-frame,'' is 
enormous. At the Catholic mission, on the north side of 
the Kansas, we were informed by the lady in whose house 
we passed the night, that a log room twelve by fifteen, which 
she put up as an addition, cost her $70. A double log 
house, that is, with two rooms, a passage, or open space 
between, the whole forty-five feet long and sixteen feet 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 69 

Y^ide — walls eight feet six inches high, with three doors and 
three windows, the logs hewn on both sides, with pine floors 
and doors, cost $594. A common shanty, of the same size, 
would cost about $150, as we were told. 

Such facts, and the importance of being so far as possible 
independent of the use of timber, should lead the settlers 
at once to experiments with stone for walls, so abundant 
and so excellent in its quality, or to the gravel or grout 
walls, which in some places have been so successfully 
adopted, and which, from the abundance of material, can be 
built as cheaply in Kansas as in any spot in the country, or 
to the wall of sun-dried bricks, or •' adobes,'' made from the 
prairie soil. We were informed by some who had visited 
Salt Lake, that the Mormons have built houses from these 
bricks three stories high, by the use of a stucco or common 
plaster for the outside, and that such buildings are strong 
and beautiful. 

Most of the cabins in Kansas are pointed up, or ''filled 
in'' between the logs, with this material. It dries so hard 
as to ring to the stroke, and we have no doubt that, with 
bricks from this soil, dwellings much cheaper and much 
better than log-cabins, can be constructed. 

Should the settlers construct their first dwellings either 
of stone or with gravel walls, or from these adobes, they 
would be dry and warm, and sickness would in a great 
measure be avoided. 

Sun-dried bricks have been extensively used in the large 
plains, both of the Old and New world, where timber is 
scarce, and they will form an available material in Kan- 
sas. Still they have not hitherto commended themselves to 



70 JOURNEY THROUGH I^NSAS. 

American taste or judgment, and perliai)s no necessity for 
their use will ever be found in Kansas. 

Should such a policy be adopted in regard to fences and 
dwellings, there will be found an abundance of timber in 
the country, and it will continually increase. Timber will 
spring up everywhere, the moment that the annual prairie 
fires are checked, and the growth of many kinds of trees is 
extremely rapid. Cottonwoods have been known, in moist 
grounds, to grow from twelve to seventeen feet high in a 
single year, and the black locust shoots up with scarcely 
less rapidity. 

A question, however, still remains. If sawed lumber is 
used for building, and to some extent for fencing, then at 
what distance from timber lands can a prairie farm be 
successfully cultivated ? We have inquired of Illinois 
farmers in regard to this point, and the reply has been that 
farms, ten or twelve miles from timber, are profitably 
occupied. 

Taking this as a guide, we will turn to Kansas. Our 
route to Fort Eiley lay along the north side of the Kansas, 
at some distance from the stream, and it crossed the lines 
of timber on its tributaries. A statement of distances 
between them will be interesting, as bearing upon this 
question of timber: 

Along the Missouri is a broad line of heavy timber. 
From the Mo., westward to Salt creek, is about 4 miles. 

Thence to Stranger creek, 9 " 

Thence to Hickory point, 12 " 

Thence to Grasshopper, with Slue creek between, 10 " 
Thence to Soldier creek, 20 " 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 71 

Thence to the Catholic mission, . . . . 20 miles. 

Thence to Lost creek, 7 ** 

Thence to Vermilion, 5 ** 

Thence to Kock creek, 4 " 

Thence to Sargent's creek 13 " 

Thence to Big Blue, 3 " 

Thence to Wild Cat, 7 " 

Thence to Fort Eiley, 12 " 

Along all this route, to the left, lay also the heavy line of 
timber on the Kansas, which, though mainly in the posses- 
sion of the Indians, at present, can be obtained, as is said, 
at moderate prices. 

At fort Eiley, as before mentioned, is a very fine body of 
timber, on the streams that unite to form the Kansas. 

From Fort Eiley to Council Grove, thirty miles, the route 
is over the high land which divides the waters of the Kansas 
from the Neosho and Osage, in the southeast. On this route 
we crossed Clark's creek, fifteen miles from Fort Eiley, which 
has a narrow line of timber. About ten miles from this we 
reached the timber on the head waters of the Neosho, in 
the vicinity of Council Grove. This timber presents a heavy, 
luxuriant growth, and it becomes more abundant down the 
streams toward the southeast. 

From Council Grove, our route toward Fort Leavenworth 
was northeast, on the south side of the Kansas; and we 
crossed creeks and lines of timber as follows : 

From Council Gr. to Big John, Spr'g cr'k, is about 2 miles. 

Thence to Eock creek, 5 " 

Thence to Bluff creek, 4 " 

Thence to One Hundred and Forty-two Mile cr'k, 6 " 



72 JOUENEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

Thence to Elm creek, o miles. 

Thence to Onion creek, ; . . 2 " 

Thence to Log Chain creek, 2 " 

Thence to Soldier creek (estimated), . . . .8 " 

Thence to AVaukereusa (estimated), . . . .15 " 

Thence to Smith's Ferry, on Kansas, about . .11 " 

Some of the above are small creeks, with only narrow lines 

of timber, but they are the extreme head springs of the 

Neosho and Osage. From the point at Smith's ferry where 

we re-crossed the Kansas, to its mouth, about one hundred 

miles, the timber is fine, on its bottom lands, and though 

mostly on the Indian reservations, can, as is said, be cheaply 

purchased. Of this fact we have no personal, or positive 

knowledge. 

These statements, we think, are sufiicient to show that 
few, if any points in Kansas, are so remote from timber as 
to be valueless — that, in fact, there need be little apprehen- 
sion of serious difficulty on this account. 

OSAGE ORANGE HEDGE. 

To some, perhaps, the following statement, from one who 
has experience in hedge growing, may be useful : 

Plant the seed in a nursery, with the ground very care- 
fully prepared. In the following spring (April in Kansas) 
transplant ; cut the young plants close to the ground, or 
''down to the yellow hark," and, on ground prepared with 
care, and to be kept free from weeds, set them out in dia- 
gonal lines, six inches apart, thus .*.•.•. The plants 
will then shoot out branches thickly, close to the ground, 
and form an impenetrable fence, sufficient to turn any stock, 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 73 

the third year, and which even in the second year is a good 
defense. One quart of seed, as is said, properly managed, 
will produce plants enough for one quarter of a mile of hedge. 
The seed should be swelled or sprouted before planting. 

COST OF A FARM, AND FARMING. 

The claim of one hundred and sixty acres, which the set- 
tler makes under the pre-emption law, will, when surveyed, 
cost him, of course, one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre ; 
for this the crops which he will raise, before the land can 
be entered, will more than pay. The first plowing of the 
prairie will cost, at present, when men and teams are hired, 
two dollars and twenty-five cents per acre. Ail other ex- 
penses are incapable of any estimate, as each man will build 
a dwelling and fences to suit himself; will purchase more 
or less of farming implements, and of stock, and will sur- 
round himself with more or less conveniences, as circum- 
stances allow. 

This land, with ordinary cultivation, will produce (accord- 
ing to the care bestowed) : 

Of corn, from 50 to 100 bushels per acre. 

Of oats, say 40 " " ** «« ** 

Of wheat (average), . . . 20 " *< ** " " 

Of potatoes (300 bushels) 

• i h200 *« " " 

sometimes raised), . J 

Of hemp, ($120 per ton), 1000 lbs. " " 

The prairie affords from one to four tons of hay per acre, 

according to season and location, which is even now cut, to 

some extent, with mowing-machines; to the use of which, or 

of * reapers,' no obstacle exists. Whatever vegetable or fruit 

7 



74 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

will grow well in I:>ew Jersey, Pennsylvania, or Kentucky, 
may be produced in perfection in Kansas. 

In three years after locating upon the open prairie, a man 
may have his farm surrounded and divided by hedges ; his 
dwelling adorned with shrubbery, and young shade-trees — ■ 
several kinds of fruit-trees and grape-vines in bearing — and 
if he pleases, a young forest, already capable of supplying 
him with some small timber. 

For stock, the prairie produces abundance, both of hay 
and pasturage, and all the cattle which we observed on 
these prairies were in very fine condition ; showing that the 
prairie grass is more nutritious than we had before supposed. 
The country seems admirably adapted both to the cultiva-- 
tion of grain and the raising of stock. 

The price of horses, oxen, cows, and mules, is about the 
same as it is in Missouri, Ohio, and Kentucky. The price 
of corn, wheat, and other grains, is, on account of the 
drouth, extremely high : corn, one dollar and fifty cents 
per bushel ; wheat flour, six, to six dollars and twenty-five 
cents per cwt., and other things in proportion ; and at these 
prices there is a home market for more than has been pro- 
duced. 

Such a state of things will not continue, but a home 
market for the productions of Kansas will be found, for a 
long period, at prices equal to those of the States — and this 
will make fortunes for those who will be content to enter at 
once into the steady and systematic cultivation of the soil, 
instead of being beguiled by the more dazzling promise, of 
the various speculations so common in a newly-opened coun- 
try. The influx of settlers will, of itself, open and long 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 75 

maintain an extensive market, while its position, in relation 
to the western government stations, to the California and 
Oregon emigration, and the Santa Fe trade, will insure, for 
the farmers of Kansas, a steady cash market at home for 
whatever they can produce. To this should be added the 
fact that the manufacturing resources of the country will 
create, of themselves, an extended home market, of great 
importance to the agricultural interest. 

MINES AND MANUFACTURES. 

As has been already stated, bituminous coal, of an excel- 
lent quality, seems to abound. The limestone of the coun- 
try is the carboniferous limestone, and in the bluffs, in 
various places, it crops out in veins from fifteen, to twenty 
inches thick ; and the indications are, that the quantity is 
abundant and widely diffused. 

It is the same formation as that on the eastern side of the 
Missouri. The strata, on both sides, dip slightly toward 
the bed of the river, and on the east side, in Missouri, the 
beds of coal are thicker, and of better quality as we recede 
from the river, until some beds in the interior are twelve 
feet thick. Such was the information given us on the spot. 

We should, of course, expect the same in Kansas. As in 
other parts of the Mississippi valley, the geological forma- 
tion indicates the existence of iron, which is so abundant in 
Missouri. Lead has been found : the Indians have brought 
in specimens of tin, and zinc ; and a bed of excellent gypsum 
has been found on the Smoky Hill fork, above fort Pdley. 
Clay for bricks, and potter's clay, abound, and large beds 
of copper are said to exist on Turkey creek. 



7Q JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

It may be assumed as a settled fact, that tlie slave States, 
while they remain such, will never manufacture for them- 
selves; and their helplessness, in this respect, is almost 
beyond belief. We were informed by a Missourian, a citi- 
zen of a town of four thousand inhabitants, on the Missouri, 
that if a carriage axle was bent or broken, it could not be 
repaired in the place ; if a shaft were broken it could not be 
replaced ; and we were elsewhere informed, that, throughout 
the beautiful farming region of the Upper Missouri, so far 
from manufacturing farming implements, not even a plow 
could be properly repaired. 

Such, so far as our observation extended, is the universal 
state of things. If, therefore, Kansas should become a free 
State, and attract to herself an emigration which should 
introduce eastern mechanical skill and experience, she would 
at once furnish manufactures of wood, iron, leather, hemp, 
and a countless variety of articles, for an immense coun- 
try both above and below her, as well as for the government 
and for the supply of the emigrants' outfit, and the trade to 
Santa Fe. 

Kansas, if free, will be very likely to present a copy of 
manufacturing New England ; nor will the water-power, the 
mineral wealth, and the timber, on her western district, at 
the base of the Kocky mountains, always lie beyond the reach 
of her population. 



CHAPTEE XII. 

A NIGHT ON THE BANKS OF THE BIG BLUE. 

Through one beautiful afternoon we bad traveled over 
tbe billowy prairie that seemed to be steeped in sunbeams, 
and toward evening, as tbe sun was sinking into tbe flood, 
wbicb himself had poured abroad, presenting a scene equal 
in glory to any sunset at sea ; a dark-blue line, stretching 
along the expanse, and looking like the coast in the far 
distance over water, showed us that we were approach- 
ing the " timber" that skirts the banks of the Big Blue, the 
largest and most beautiful tributary of the Kansas. 

As we descended from the high prairie into these timber 
bottoms, we found a thick growth of tall and thrifty trees, 
oaks, elms, cottonwoods, sycamores, mingled with Ijickory 
and ash, forming a wide grove on either side of the stream. 

Our road, for a time, lay along the foot of a high, and 
almost overshadowing bluff, while below us, through the 
dark arches of the trees, we could see the broad river, 
rippling in its flow, and sparkling in the sun, or lying still 
and dark under the shadow of its western shore, while still 
beyond, appeared the open and apparently cultivated mead- 
ows of the prairie, extending far as the eye could reach. 

The evening song of birds broke sweetly the general 



78 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

silence ; here and there a squirrel dropped down the nuts 
he was gathering, and quails and prairie hens would 
cast on us an inquiring glance, and then away to cover. 
It seemed almost impossible to believe that we were not in 
some old and highly-cultivated country; we could scarce 
help expecting that we should soon be among orchards, and 
grain-fields, and elegant dwellings. 

We reached, at dusk, a log-cabin of somewhat more than 
the ordinary pretensions, three stories long, and one story 
high, around which was a paling fence, formed of split 
sticks, indicating that the march of civilization had begun, 
and that the first stage, that of the rail or worm fence, for 
the front yard, had' here been already passed. Seldom is a 
more beautiful site for a dwelling seen. In the rear, the 
sheltering blufi"s threw round it a protecting wall of green, 
while in front was the bright, clear river and its broad, 
natural meadows. It will probably be spoiled, for it ofi'ers 
an advantageous location for a "tavern," and mm and 
tobacco, and drunken swearing men will very soon be there, 
to mar the beauty of the works of God. We found that the 
three stories were not too many for the accommodation of 
the owners. They formed quite a patriarchal family, well 
suited to the Oriental-looking pastures and meadows that 
lay around them. Jacob, himself, had scarcely more sons and 
daughters, and sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, children, 
and grandchildren, than were gathered here. 

Supper was provided, and we sat down in the midst of the 
family, there being no alternative, unless we, or the family, 
should occupy the outside of the house, during the meal. 
The patriarch, himself, who had been absent, returned just 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 79 

at this juncture, and seated himself with us. I inrjuired if 
he had any objection to my asking God to bless our food. 
He readily assented, but a marked change at once came over 
him. 

His wife, who was sitting near me, said that they had 
lost all 'Hheir manners" since they came out to Kansas. 
The ''old man," she added, "used to say grace, before he 
came out here, but since we came to this place he has lost 
his manners." The old man seemed to lose " his manners" 
in another sense, after this frank confession of his wife. He 
was moody during the meal, and answered us rather gruflfly, 
in some things. We were soon shown the room where we 
were to sleep. Some of the party had begun to lay aside 
their garments, when he walked in with his pipe in his 
hand, a most capacious one, filled it, lighted it at the candle, 
and sat down as if he felt at home, in his own house, unmind- 
ful of the turning down and tucking up of bed-clothes, and 
the half undressed condition of his guests. Something 
evidently was lying with great weight on his mind. He 
smoked with nervous energy, while it was clear that his 
conversation was only a skirmishing of outposts, a prelude 
to something which he had not yet got at. Boots were 
drawn off, cravats were laid aside, suspenders" even unbut- 
toned, but the patriarch comprehended not. Smoke now 
filled the room so that one of the party was absolutely 
"smoked out," and was obliged to seek the open air. I 
suggested to the old man that the tobacco had sickened him. 

It took him quite by surprise. It had not even occurred 
to him that anybody could dislike tobacco. As to the idea 
that his presence in our sleeping apartment was an intru- 



80 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

sion, I saw that he could never be made to comprehend that, 
and what sort of a writ of ejectment could be served upon 
him was becoming a serious question, and though much 
amused, we were also not a little annoyed. 

He finally marched straight up to the matter that was 
pressing upon his mind. He turned to me and asked, "Are 
you a preacher ?" Considering my external man, resembling 
a Californian, when ''prospecting,'^ more than a minister, ] 
honored the old man for his doubts. I think he only partly 
believed me when I answered, " Yes." " I wish you had got 
here," he replied, ''before sundown, I would have sent 
round and had 'em come in to hear you preach." 

He then said that he was a member of the Methodist church, 
and used once to enjoy religion, and had family prayers, 
and grace at the table, but since he had come into Kansas 
he had become cold and neglectful, and he had, he said, a 
great many about him who were not Christians, and he 
found it hard to live in a Christian way. His case was 
now perfectly clear. He was rebuked and mortified by 
what had occurred at the table, his spiritual nakedness had 
been revealed to strangers, and the aroused conscience had 
compelled him to come to us, and make explanations. 

He could not rest until he had partially unburdened his 
spirit. His Christian graces had not well endured the trans- 
planting into Kansas, and lacking the support of the usual 
external helps, they had well-nigh perished entirely. 

He was one of a very numerous class of professors whose 
piety depends very much upon circumstances, and who, 
without the presence of a ministry, and the ordinances of a 
church, exhibit neither life nor light. The new States and 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 81 

the Territories swarm with such dead or frozen disciples, 
and the sad fact shows the great importance of the emigra- 
tion of Christian colonies, of churches, by which many weak 
ones might be kept from falling, and perhaps strengthened 
in the faith. 

The old man in the end expressed a wish to call his family 
together for evening worship, and gladly resuming the gar- 
ments which had been laid aside, we followed him back to 
our dining-room, which was at once filled by the numerous 
tribe, and a scene somewhat vexatious in its commencement, 
was interesting and solemn in its close. The next morning 
he was reminded of the importance of his position, at the 
head of so large a household, whose views of religion would 
be greatly influenced by his example. AVe found that other 
professors were living in the vicinity, and urged upon him 
the duty of at least endeavoring to assemble on the Sabbath 
for prayer-meeting. He replied, " k.B soon as these soldiers 
get away I shall try and do something," 

We learned then that some soldiers from a neighboring 
fort were engaged on a government work near by ; that they 
boarded with him ; that his piety had not the courage to 
show itself in their presence, and Satan had persuaded 
him to wait until he could be pious without an effort, and 
without the necessity of bearing his cross. 

A man does not escape from himself by a journey to Kan- 
sas, and Satan follows the weak and wavering Christian 
even into the wilderness. Our old friend is, I think, a 
child of Grod, but he lacks the manly courage which is one 
of the brightest excellencies of the Christian character when 
the energy is tempered with meekness. Thousands, not in 



82 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

Kansas, are waiting until the soldiers are gone, before they 
attempt their duty. 

The night spent at the Big Blue was a cloudless one, and 
the purity of the atmosphere, in Kansas, was beautifully 
exhibited by the exceeding brilliancy of the heavens. Never 
before was my soul so filled, and even awed by the glory of 
the skies. I had never before felt so deeply the loveliness 
of perfect purity as in looking at the milky- way that night — 
so stainless, so perfectly defined, and yet with so soft an out- 
line. It surely needs the knowledge of the one true God, 
to prevent man, in such a climate, from worshiping the 
stars. To show the effect of the scene upon a youthful mind 
I insert here an extract from the journal of the youngest 
member of the party : 

"THE HEAVENS AT BIG BLUE. 

"All day we had traveled amid scenes of wonderful 
beauty. We journeyed toward the setting sun, and often 
ere he sank into the plain, he drew our eyes to where the 
lengthening shadows, stretching away from every rock, and 
knoll, and tree, were pointing back to our eastern homes. 
Strangers, and in a strange land, memory had little need of 
being thus aroused, for although our faces were set westward, 
our hearts went quickly home, and our spirits heard the 
voices of those we loved, and we saw their familiar faces. 

" Slowly the sun withdrew through gates of gold, that 
were surrounded by a deeper, purer blue, than I had ever 
seen before. The glowing sky was so clear, so stainless, 
that it seemed as if the gates of Paradise were partly opened, 
and the shadow of that heavenly radiance whose splendor 



JOURNEY THROUGH ICANSAS. 83 

mortality can not bear, was lighting up the scene. The 
mind, unless altogether earthly, is always deeply impressed 
by the closing up of a summer-day. The sinking sun, the 
deepening twilight, the gradual coming of the stars in their 
appointed order, and the stretching of the milky-way across 
the sky, will always affect one, even amid the dust and 
smoke of a city, but situated as we were, beyond the 
very borders of civilization, and almost beyond the abodes 
of men, the death of that calm, beautiful day, came like a 
sweet spell over the heart. Night came, clothed, as it 
seemed, in her "festal garments;" she had put on all her 
stars. Above, the heavens glowed, and below, every blade 
of grass, and every little leaflet, sparkled also with its star- 
drop of dew. 

*' The outline of the distant prairie, as it rose and fell, 
apparently against the sky, rounding into all conceivable 
curves of beauty, was in itself a magnificent picture, and yet 
but a single feature in the scene which God had there unrolled. 
I did not wonder, as my eye wandered over the magnificence 
of these heavens, that the heathen, in more southern climes, 
should nightly bow himself to worship in such a temple, 
whose walls rise higher than the "armed eye" can reach, 
and whose pavements are stars, and firmaments of stars. 
It is not strange that these glorious lights before the throne 
should be mistaken for the Divinity himself. 

" Among the mountains of Xew England, I had looked on 
the same scene, and again, I had watched these stars 
while floating on the bosom of the upper lakes, and often 
from the hills around our Queen City, I had endeavored, by 



84 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

the aid of man's sliort-sighted -wisdom, to search out these 
hidden mysteries of God. 

"At these three, widely separated points, the heavens had 
presented the same scene to my eye, "but now it was essen- 
tially changed. As an old painting is improved by cleans- 
ing and restoring what has faded, so it seemed to me, that, 
compared with what I had seen before, some hand had 
freshly burnished the whole vault of heaven, and brightened 
all its jewels. The blue of the sky was dark, almost to 
blackness, and the stars seemed nearer, larger, and more 
lustrous. With the sleeping prairie, silent and unin- 
habited, around, and so pure a sky above, I thought I could 
imagine the beauty of earth ere man had marred its loveli- 
ness, and I turned forward to that new creation, when it 
shall be swept and garnished again. With what feelings I 
beheld, so far from home, each familiar shining one. Far 
in the East I had hailed their appearance, nightly, and 
watched and followed them with my glass, and now, as old 
acquaintances, they were doubly welcome, where all was 
strange and earthly friends were few. Arcturus looked 
down with eye as fiery, as when the Patriarch mentioned 
him in his hymn, worshiping ' Him who guideth Arcturus 
and his sons;' the Northern Crown was slowly setting, bend- 
ing to place its coronet upon the prairie's brow, and Cassi- 
opeia rode on in queenly magnificence. On how many 
crumbling thrones had she looked down, since God first 
sent her forth along her shining way ! ' Time writes no 
wrinkle on her changeless brow.' There, too, were the 
folding coils of The Serpent, sparkling with many hues, as 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 85 

if trying tlie arts of fascination. Aquarius was there, but 
it was only in mockery that he seemed to lavish the contents 
of his ample vase, upon the parched earth. The Heavenly 
Eiver, (Eridanus) rolling its waters westward, reminded me 
of the ' streams' that 'shall make glad the city of our God.' 
''The Eagle and The Youth were pursuing their journey, 
side by side, symbolizing, as I thought, the great future of 
this West. To an American the eagle speaks of republi- 
canism and civilization in its highest form — of a great and 
prosperous nation. The western youth has joined hands 
with the eagle, and together they are starting on their way. 
May the splendor of the heavenly pair be typical of the 
result on earth. Again, the silvery beauty of Altair 
brought up a crowd of familiar faces, with whom, at home, 
I had often looked upon his brightness. Blue eyed Lyra 
* discoursed sweet music ' from her golden harp. The wolves 
on the prairies seemed to be howling praises to their fellow 
Wolves, that had been, by the ancients, enthroned among 
the stars. I thanked Q-od for these smiles of my starry 
friends, and laid up, among the treasures of memory, that 
night scene on the banks of the Big Blue." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE SCENERY OE THE PRAIRIES— THE PAST, THE PRESENT, 
THE FUTURE. 

I HATE before stated that tlie Kansas prairies are indescrib- 
able, and this is true. Yet when the spirit has been deeply 
moved by any object, we can scarce refrain from an attempt, 
however feeble and unsuccessful, to describe the scene to 
others, that they may share in our emotions. This induces 
me to speak again of the scenery of the prairies. I have 
just reached an elevated spot, the top of one of the prairie 
billows that has heaved itself above its fellows. From this 
low eminence let us look around. The eye sweeps, without 
one obstruction, round a perfect circle of at least fifty miles 
in diameter. Everywhere the undulating outline of the 
plain touches the "horizon's rim." Over the vast plateau 
the heavens seem spread out on purpose to curtain it in ; 
a dome "whose maker and builder is God," and which, 
glowing, as it is, with excess of light, seems to send down 
to us the glory of some "upper sky," the shining through 
of a heavenly splendor. 

Much has been said of the awe one feels beneath the 
center of the dome of St. Peter's, but here we are under a 
dome whose base is fifty miles across, and which swells, 



JOURNEY THKOUGH KANSAS. 87 

measureless, into the height of the heavens. Below it, 
seems a vast amphitheater ; for from the horizon's edge the 
prairie appears to slope gently inward toward the center, so 
that the boundary line of vision seems to lie on the crest of 
surrounding hills. But this is a delusion. It is only the 
general outline of the plain that lies clearly defined against 
the distant sky. The river bluffs, themselves, seldom rise 
above the general level of the high rolling plateau. Far, to 
the south and southwest of us, the line of timber that marks 
the position and course of the Kansas, appears like a long 
blue cloud, just resting on the boundless meadows. West 
of us, a slender, silver line runs across the prairie, for 
many a mile, and loses itself in the distance. 'Tis the mist 
which, after a shower whose clouds are gone, is rising over 
the channel of one of the tributaries of the Kansas, coming 
in from the north. It looks almost as if the milky-way had 
descended to the earth, and was now floating slowly back to 
the skies. 

The distant river sweeps close up to the base of the 
bluffs, and they present many grand and curious features as 
they swell out into the river valley, and where their upper 
outline stands out against the sky. They appear in the 
distance much more abrupt than they are in reality. To 
the eye they rise from the edge of the valley, almost as 
steeply as walls — but walls of most huge dimensions. 
They look like immense fortifications. It would not sur- 
prize us to behold there the floating folds of banners, nor to 
see gigantic sentinels pacing their rounds on those battle- 
ments. That long regular slope, rising from the river, looks 
indeed, like a glacis, constructed with military precision ; 



88 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

those huge, rounded promontories, reaeliing out into the 
valley, might well be taken for bastions, and that level line, 
that for so many miles stretches along the sky, looks like 
the graded top of the parapet. 

Yonder, too, are circular mounds, cone-shaped and iso- 
lated, regular in form as if art had constructed them, yet 
not artificial, commanding a view of the whole adjacent 
country to the limits of vision, while on the top of one 
appears a smaller cone, as if it were crested with a watch- 
tower. From these various elevations and projections, huge 
shadows, as the sun declines, are thrown over the long slopes 
and level prairie, adding still to the variety and beauty of 
the scene. 

Now let the eye range round the circumference of this 
circle — one hundred and fifty miles, at the very least. See 
this plain around us — fifty miles, or more, across. It seems, 
at first glance, a country full of people, so evident, so uni- 
versal appear to be the evidences of cultivated life. AYe 
think we see countless meadows and grain-fields all about 
us. We have not closely observed, but surely here must be 
a multitude of flocks, and ''cattle on a thousand hills." We 
look for the spires of distant villages — the snowy gleam of 
white dwellings under the low, green hills, we listen for the 
voices of human life. We start at the result. Not a single 
human dwelling can the eye detect in all the vast amphi- 
theater ; not even a smoke curls up anywhere to tell of life ; 
not a sound can be heard, beyond ourselves, that indicates 
the presence of man. Not even an Indian is abroad, in all 
the prairie. There may, or may not be, a log-cabin or two, 
somewhere within this circle, but, so far as eye or ear can 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 89 

determine, it is one immense waste, and voiceless solitude, 
hushed into the very silence of the tomb. Here, away as 
we are from the groves by the river, there *s not a leaf to 
rustle, nor a bird to sing. Yonder hawk waves his wings 
all silently as he floats along, and the ear, pained with the 
intense stillness, is relieved by even the buzzing of a fly. 
"Where are the people?" Few have ever looked upon 
these prairies, I think, without being constrained to ask 
this question. We seem not disposed to doubt that the 
whole scene was once throbbing with the pulse of a great 
people's life. We feel that in some way they have suddenly 
vanished, and we ask, Will they re-appear, or are the multi- 
tudes of their dead sleeping around us ; has this gTeat silence 
fitly settled here, over a nation's tomb ? In this case, where 
Grod has not yet seen fit to disclose one of the most interest- 
ing secrets of the past, each one may indulge his own 
conjecture, if not plainly contrary to the teaching of exist- 
ing facts. 

Tor myself I was constrained to adopt, at once, the opinion 
of those who believe that the prairies are the once cultivated 
fields of a race that has passed away, and left no represen- 
tative behind. The mounds, the remains of fortifications, 
and apparently of walled cities ; the ruined temples of Central 
America, and these green fields now empty and silent, seem 
to be joint memorials of a common past — and of that past 
the prairies are, to me, the most solemn and touching monu- 
ment. In a region desolated by war, the fragments of 
demolished temples, and the shattered walls of forts, are 
not the saddest features in the scene. 

The country, emptied of its inhabitants, despoiled of its 
8 



90 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

flocks and herds, its orchards and vineyards ruined, and 
far and wide, its fields unoccupied, lying waste and silent, 
this is more deeply affecting. So, in looking at the prairies, 
we feel that all around us there were once multitudes of 
happy homes ; that millions once dwelt on these broad plains, 
devoted to the gentle arts of peace, and elevated far above 
the condition of the wandering savage ; that these were their 
grain-fields and pasture-grounds; that their flocks, and 
herds, and vineyards were on these hill-sides; that this 
impressive stillness is the silence of death, and this rank 
grass is growing over forgotten graves — its very rankness 
suggesting that the plains may have once been fertilized 
with blood, and the ashes of the dead. In the period in 
which those builders of temples, cities, and mounds dwelt 
here, this continent lay, it seems, without the range of that 
world which alone has furnished materials for history ; and 
here a western world, with empires of its own, populous as 
those by the Euphrates or the Nile, the Egean or the Tiber, 
has had its life of centuries, which no poet has sung, or 
historian recorded. One of those great revolutions has 
occurred here, such as left the plain of Shinar and the valley 
of the Nile almost as desolate as the prairie ; a great multi- 
tude has been swept out of existence, a race has perished, 
and God has sealed up the secret of its history, so that 
no man can open. 

It seems scarcely possible to entertain the idea, that the 
present race of Indians are the descendants of those who 
built the mounds and temples. Every known characteristic 
forbids the supposition. There 's not a single feature in all 
their mental structure, there 's nothing in their tastes or 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 91 

modes of life wliatever, that would suggest sucli a previous 
existence as some race must haye had in this central garden- 
land of America. 

Their whole appearance is that of the degenerate children 
of a wild, conquering race ; that having overrun a cultivated 
country, and swept the inhabitants away, and incapable of 
any organization or progress, separated into roving bands, 
and warring upon each other, noui'ished the heart of slaughter 
and revenge, and sunk at last to where the white man found 
them. It seems contrary to the whole course of human 
development, that such a race as the Indians of our country 
could have descended from those who worshiped in these 
ornamented temples whose ruins remain — dwelt in these 
cities whose walls are not wholly gone, and cultivated 
these plains. 

They present two distinct and antagonistic phases of 
national life — the one must have destroyed and succeeded 
the other. The present Indian is the Scythian of the west. 

This race also has nearly finished its course. As surely 
as races, like individuals, have characteristics peculiar to 
themselves, capacities which indicate fitness or unfitness for 
certain modes of thought or action, so certain does it appear 
that the Indian race will never assume the forms of the 
Anglo-Saxon civilization; and it is difficult to conceive how 
any one who has visited the tribes in their homes, can reach 
a diff'erent conclusion. The fond anticipations which many 
are indulging of Christianized and civilized Indian nations, 
on our western borders, will, in all probability, never be 
realized. The preaching of the Gospel will doubtless secure 
the salvation of individuals ; many may thus be gathered 



92 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

as trophies of the albouncling grace of God, but the civili- 
zation of the nineteenth century is not for them. As a peo- 
ple, the Gospel will not save them. As a race, and nationally, 
they are lost already, and will disappear. They have played 
their part through, in the world's development, and they are 
nearly ready to leave the stage. As they succeeded to the 
position of a vanishing race, so we have done to theirs. 
Their stewardship is over and their doom pronounced, and 
ours is now beginning. The dominions of the Toltecans 
have, through the red tribes, come down to us, and the prai- 
ries of Kansas, and those adjoining, will soon present all the 
forms of a new life — the life of the nineteenth century — and 
that peculiar form of it which God has committed to the 
American people; for even Anglo-Saxon civilization has 
an American phase. Should we permit slavery to enter 
here with abominations more hideous in the sight of God 
than those of the savages, will he not even take the king- 
dom from us ? 



CHAPTEE XIV. 

TOWN SITES AND SETTLEMENTS. 

In the few clays only that have elapsed since the follow- 
ing chapter was written, some progress has been made in 
the settlement of the Territory, and in determining the 
sites of future towns. Still, I have thought best to let it 
remain as originally penned, for it will at least show how 
far the first impressions of the Commissioners sent, are con- 
firmed by subsequent events. The Xew England settlement 
on the Waukereusa, has since received some large acces- 
sions, and the first number of a paper, a large, fine-looking 
sheet, and devoted to the cause of freedom, has been issued 
there. A large colony, as is said, has selected Council 
Grove as its center, and some claims have been made in the 
vicinity of Fort Eiley. 

The natural features of the couiifry would seem to point 
out the necessity of three, perhaps four, principal commer- 
cial centers for Kansas, as points for exchange between 
herself and other States, viz : one in the neighborhood of St. 
Joseph ; one near the mouth of the Kansas river ; one on her 
southeastern border, where it will be touched by the South- 
western Branch Eailway from St. Louis toward Texas ; and 
perhaps a fourth somewhere in the valley of the Arkansas. 



94 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

All speculations, except of quite a general character, con- 
cerning town sites in a country so little known as Kansas, 
must necessarily be somewhat vague, yet perhaps the public 
are entitled to the opinions of the Commissioners, though 
the immediate future may show them to be erroneous. A 
central city at, or near the mouth of the Kansas, may, by 
means of railways running west, northwest and southwest, 
concentrate on that single point, nearly the whole commerce 
of the Territory. 

Be this as it may, enterprise, competition, and the spirit 
of speculation are already busy with cities and city lots. A 
city called Atchison has already been laid off, not far below 
St. Joseph, on the Missouri, with an eye to the trade of the 
upper division of Kansas, on the Nemaha, ^Yolf creek, and 
the upper waters of the Big Blue and Vermilion rivers. 

Three miles below Fort Leavenworth, and some twenty- 
five miles above the mouth of the Kansas, is Leavenworth 
City. The proximity of Fort Leavenworth, and the sup- 
posed presence of the Territorial Government near, may be 
circumstances in its favor, but it is not located at the point 
toward which the commerce of the Territory would natu- 
rally flow. That point is at the mouth of the Kansas, and 
to it trade will flow as naturally as the waters of the river. 

There is already, Kansas City, but it is in Missouri, whose 
boundary here touches the western shore of the Missouri 
river. There is a site for a city on the north side of the 
Kansas, at its mouth, on lands now owned by the Wyan- 
dots. It would seem that the commercial capital of Kan- 
sas must be at the mouth of its principal strenm. 

In the southeastern district, through which the Neosho and 



% 

JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 95 

the Osage rivers flow, there are as yet few settlers, and no 
movement has been made toward the building of a city. 
The prevailing opinion with them seemed to be, that their 
trade must connect itself with the Kansas valley. If so, it 
must, of course, be by the common roads, or railways. 

In regard to internal towns, the settlers, thus far, have 
been guided by the very natural idea, that a town would 
spring up, either at, or near, where the principal streams 
and valleys strike the Kansas, or are crossed by the main 
lines of road- — such as the Oregon, California, and Santa Fe 
routes. At all such points, especially along the north shore 
of the Kansas, settlements have been formed, and claims 
have been made, for some distance up the streams, and to 
the depth of two or three claims, along the main road, in 
the vicinity of the supposed town site, while back from the 
streams, and between town locations, the prairie is as yet 
mostly unclaimed. Thus, commencing on the Missouri and 
following the Tort Eiley road, on the north side of the Kan- 
sas, we find, first, Leavenworth City; then, westward, are 
settlements at Salt creek, Hickory Point, Stranger creek. 
Grasshopper river, Soldier creek. Catholic Mission, Lost 
creek, Vermilion, Eock creek, Big Blue (the largest trib- 
utary of the Kansas, and about one hundred and fifty feet 
wide, clear and rapid) , Wild Cat creek, and Fort Eiley. 

Then from Council Grove toward the Missouri, and the 
mouth of the Kansas, settlements have been made in the 
same manner, on the creeks heretofore mentioned as the 
tributaries of the Neosho and Osage, where these are 
crossed by the Santa Fe road. The same process is also 
going forward in the northern district, on AYolf creek, the 



96 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

Nemaha, and on the u2"-per waters of the Vermilion and Big 
Blue rivers ; a settlement of some importance having already 
been made by a company, where the government road to 
forts Kearney and Laramie crosses the Big Blue. 

Among all these, will there be any important towns ? A 
question which time, alone, can answer satisfactorily ; yet 
some suggestions may not be entirely useless. One fact 
should, we think, be considered. The Indian reservations 
lie along the Kansas, running back from six miles to ten 
miles, and many spots, now chosen for towns, lie outside of 
the boundaries of these Indian lands, and consecjuently six 
and ten, or more miles, from the mouths of the streams on 
which they are located. These Indian reservations will not 
always be Indian lands, and when they, also, are open for 
settlement, will not the true business centers be found fur- 
ther down, where these valleys and streams meet the Kansas, 
whether this stream proves to be navigable, or whether a 
railway is constructed along its banks ? 

Doubtless, on all of these streams, small towns will 
spring up, but there seemed to us some special attractions 
on the Grasshopper, a clear and beautiful stream, about 
eighty-five feet wide, and a site for a still larger town on 
the Big Blue, a clear, swift stream, one hundred and fifty 
feet wide, even in the drouth. On the lower part of this 
river few claims had been made at the time of our visit, 
(September) . 

The confluence of the two important streams that form 
the Kansas, and the beauty and fertility of their valleys, 
as well as the large body of timber at Tort Eilcy, indicate 
that spot as the site of an important place, while a town 



JOUENEY THROUGH KANSAS. 97 

will also be established at, or near, Council G-rove. This is 
in the midst of a fertile and beautiful region. 

Without railways, or the navigation of the Kansas, towns 
at the mouth of the Big Blue, at Fort Eiley, and Council 
Grove, would be situated very much as Columbus, in Ohio, 
Harrisburgh, in Pennsylvania, Utica, in New York, and 
Springfield, in Massachusetts, once were ; though the natural 
roads in Kansas are superior to any artificial ones we ever 
saw, and the small quantity of rain which falls in the winter 
months is not sufficient to render them muddy. They are 
so, only for a short time, in the spring. Should these towns, 
however, become the radiating points for railways, like so 
many interior towns of the north and east, their future 
can be easily foreseen. 

Will there be an interior town of importance on the Kan- 
sas, between its mouth and Fort Eiley ? These points are 
about one hundred and forty miles apart. About midway 
between them, on the south side of the Kansas, and on the 
peninsula between it and the Waukereusa, the New England 
settlement has been established, and twenty miles beyond, 
up the river, is Stinson's settlement, where a town has lately 
been laid out, which is called Tecumseh. The trade of the 
region of Council Grove could reach a point on the Kansas, 
about half way from its mouth to Fort Eiley, either by the 
common road, or by a railway, with about half the distance 
now traveled, viz : from Council Grove to the Missouri. 

This would probably be true, also, of a portion of the 
trade of the Big Blue and Vermilion. If, then, a town at 
such a point on the Kansas, could avail itself, either of the 
9 



98 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

navigation of tlic river, or connect itself with the Missouri 
by railway, it would, of course, become one of the most im- 
portant interior towns of Kansas. 

At such a point the New England settlement has been 
established, and we presume that those interested will not 
fail to avail themselves of all the advantages of their posi- 
tion. This Company will soon demonstrate the advantages 
of combination of capital and skill in the settlement of a 
new country. They have selected one of the most beautiful 
locations in the Territory, lovely enough to satisfy the most 
fastidious taste, and commanding a wide view of the sur- 
rounding country. From observations made on the spot, 
we think the plan has been wisely conceived, and though the 
work has been delayed, somewhat, beyond early anticipa- 
tions, is now being pushed on with system and energy. A 
plot, equal to about two miles square, has been reserved for 
the town ; a township organization has been effected ; the two 
first companies have united their interests, and on the day 
we visited the settlement, there was an auction sale of the 
choice of claims. Fifty-six choices were sold, which brought 
a premium of five thousand dollars. This fact is a sufficient 
answer to the idle stories which have been put in circula- 
lation about the dissatisfaction and return of the New 
England emigrants. There are now at this point, as is sup- 
posed, about four hundred persons. 

Two steam saw-mills are ready for business, and ma- 
chinery for various other purposes will be run by these 
engines. The Company will be able to supply the emigrants 
with lumber, at about ten dollars per thousand, and it is 



JOUKNEY THROUGH ICANSAS. 99 

hoped that the tents will be exchanged, not for log-cahins, 
but for comfortable framed dwellings, before the setting-in of 
winter. A printing-press, driven by steam, is said to be at 
work ; a building for schools, with an upper hall for public 
worship, is to be erected at once, and the Company will 
supply the settlers there, with food, and all necessaries, at 
much lower rates than they could procure them for them- 
selves — a point of great importance during the present 
scarcity and high prices. In addition, this company has 
purchased a large hotel in Kansas City, where emigrants 
will be received, and we are convinced that they are carry- 
ing out, in good faith, to the great benefit of the settlers, 
and with ultimate advantage to the stockholders, the de- 
signs which they originally formed. 

Tn the course of a few months, there will be found there, 
a modern town, with its church, or churches, schools, news- 
papers, stores, mechanics' shops, and manufacturing estab- 
lishments, surrounded by a farming population. For the 
present, we are told, a town lot will be donated to any one 
who will occupy and improve. 

The present promise of this spot, is far greater than that 
of any other in Kansas. Here, the settler will find, almost 
at once, the privileges and advantages of an older commu- 
nity, and here capital and combination will create business, 
and attract a population with a continually increasing 
power — while the advance in price of such land as the Com- 
pany reserves, will remunerate, as it should do, the holders 
of its stock. 

The noble work, which this Company has undertaken, 
may be done in a similar manner at man}- other points, 



100 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

especially at Council Grove and Fort Eiley, and by other 
associations; and we hope to see this general plan acted 
upon until Kansas is occupied and filled. It strips emi- 
gration of its terrors, and renders the settling of a new 
country a safe, easy, and profitable operation, even for the 
pioneers. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE FIRST WINTER MAY BE ONE OF HARDSHIP. 

It will probably prove a fortunate circumstance that no 
greater number have been able to enter Kansas during the 
present season. The prices of provisions, necessarily high 
in the interior, have been largely increased in consequence 
of the drouth ; and the settlers will meet the double diffi- 
culty of high prices and scarcity of food. 

At the New England settlement these difficulties will 
be in good degree obviated by the capital and providence 
of the company, but unless the settler has more than usual 
resources at command, he may find serious inconveniences 
during the coming winter. Add to this that the navigation 
of the Missouri is often interrupted by ice early in Novem- 
ber, and we certainly have reason to fear that those who 
after this period, leave this fall, for Kansas, may meet with 
unexpected discouragements. 

Nor is it the work of a few days only, to make com- 
fortable provision for a dwelling, and other necessary things, 
and sickness will be the almost inevitable consequence of 
exposure in tents, and half-finished cabins, of green logs. 
Already remittent fevers had made their appearance among 
the settlers, at some points, when we were there, owing 
entirely to exposure in unsuitable habitations. 



102 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

There is every reason to suppose that Kansas is eminently 
healthy, but the settler must not expect that he and his 
family can escape disease in circumstances which would 
prove fatal to an ox. 

It would not be surprising, therefore, if, during the com- 
ing winter, and the next spring, we should hear an evil 
report concerning the land. Some Missourians were, in 
September, uttering prophecies, born of their desires, that 
the " ' northwesters' would blow the Yankees away." This 
will doubtless be true of some. T>Iany have gone into Kan- 
sas with no preparation or fitness for the life of pioneers, 
impelled by the mere spirit of adventure, and with no defi- 
nite purpose of any kind. They have floated into Kansas 
on the tide, and on the first slight ebb will float out again, 
or retire in disgust, if not allowed, in some manner, to prey 
on the community. Let no one be deterred by evil reports 
or croaking prognostications. The land is a good land, 
eminently so ; and considering its advantages, as a whole, 
they are greater than were ever before offered to the Ameri- 
can settler. 

Nor should individuals fear that if they delay until next 
spring, the land will all be occupied, and that good loca- 
tions can not then be obtained. It is not unlikely that it 
will be more easy to obtain farms in the vicinity of present 
settlements, than it is even now. The experience of a win- 
ter, in such circumstances as have been described, will 
discourage many — and their claims will be for sale at a 
premium less than the sum it would cost to spend the winter 
in the Territory, There are, moreover, thousands of ficti- 
tious claims, which, of course, will never be entered in a 



JOURNEY THROUGH IvANSAS. 103 

land-office. These must be exposed, iu a few months, and 
can be obtained. It was the opinion of experienced men 
that the early part of the coming spring will be the most 
favorable time which will ever present for entering the east- 
ern division of Kansas. Nor because colonies are already 
located in important positions, should it be supposed, that 
no other suitable positions remain unoccupied. 

A colony, such as ought to be formed, wherever the thing 
is attempted, can, as yet, create an important town at any 
point in Kansas, wher^ it may clwose to locate. Such are 
the natural features of the country, that around any center 
which a prudent man would select, in that enormous plain, 
there would be found the elements for the support of a town, 
both agricultural and manufacturing. The superiority of 
one point over another, will depend more upon the capital, 
skill and enterprise, which may gather there, and upon the 
character of the population, than upon mere locality. This 
will prove especially true in regard to the town sites of the 
interior. Of all these, the position of Tort Eiley is most 
clearly marked by its natural advantages. The confluence 
of those rivers, forming the Kansas, indicates a town — 
especially if it should prove the head of navigation on the 
Kansas. In the wide region around Council Grove, the 
people and their capital will make the town, in any spot for 
miles in either direction. The same general remarks may 
be made in regard to large portions of Kansas. Natural 
features of country will have less influence upon town sites 
and their destiny, than in regions where these features are 
more strongly marked. The truth and importance of this 
remark will be more clearly seen, if wc consider that the 



104 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

abundance of coal and iron, to say nothing of other minerals, 
affords the means of creating a manufacturing town on 
almost any spot where a company may pitch their tents. 

A small part only has yet been explored, its resources are, 
as yet, mostly unknown, and the field, either for individual 
enterprise or for the establishment of colonies, is yet as wide 
and as inviting as the heart of man ought to desire. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

FORT RILEY — INDIAN FIGHTING. 

About the middle of a very beautiful day, we came in 
sight of Fort Eiley. Standing on a broad, low eminence, 
swelling gently up from the Kansas valley, on the east, and 
from that of the Republican on the south, and southwest, its 
cluster of white buildings presented a neat and attractive 
appearance; and doubtless the beauty of the picture was 
enhanced, in our eyes, because we had lately looked only on 
unsightly cabins. It was a sweet-looking "oasis,'' not 
indeed a green spot merely, amid sands, but a little **isle 
of beauty," rising out of the prairie ocean, bright with a 
civilized smile, and wearing the decorations of taste and 
skill. 

It is a new station, established only last November (1853), 
and hence the freshness of its look; though such is the 
exceeding purity of the air that many colors will remain 
long undimmed, even when exposed to the atmosphere, and 
white walls will not be soon discolored. 

Most of the principal buildings have been erected during 
the present season (1854), and an architect of Cincinnati, 
as we were told, has left there a lasting evidence of his taste. 
They are constructed of a limestone which is found in the 



106 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

neighboring bluffs, is easily hewn, and when wrought appears 
white — a material cheaply obtained, cheaply hewn, and 
forming a very neat as well as substantial structure. It 
presents almost the appearance of a chalk formation, in- 
closing nodules of flint. The same material abounds 
throughout other portions of the Territory. 

On the east lies the Kansas valley, here, perhaps, three 
miles wide, with its dark -green line of timber, through the 
openings of which gleams the river, while the eastern bluffs 
rise quite abruptly, and lie along the sky in bold yet grace- 
ful outlines. Toward the Kansas, the eminence, on which 
stand the buildings of the fort, sinks with a very gentle 
slope. On the west, the land rises to the crest of the bluffs, 
so as to form, on that side, a sheltering wall. On the south, 
is the heavy body of timber lying in the forks of the Smoky 
Hill and Eepublican — a grove of oaks, elms, sycamores, 
cottonwoods, and other large timber, here probably three 
miles wide. The Eepublican, a broad and rapid stream, 
comes in from the west, and the Smoky Hill, about two 
hundred and twenty-five feet wide, flows from the southwest. 
The water of this stream is quite brackish. Both valleys 
are beautiful, that of the Eepublican eminently so near the 
junction, while we were told by those at Fort Eiley, that 
portions of the valley of the Smoky Hill, are more attract- 
ive still. Not a claim had been made, in either valley, at 
the time of our visit, as was said. From the western bluffs, 
which we ascended, w^e could look along the Eepublican 
valley, as far as vision could reach, and I could not but feel, 
as I thought of all the excitement and anxiety, the feverish 
rush, of city life, that it would be sweet to have a home, a 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 107 

resting-place, in tliat exquisite solitude, until the speed of 
life's race could be slacked, and the hot machinery of the 1 
brain have time to cool. The prairie breeze came and / 
fanned the throbbing brow, as if to show how soothingly the 
thing could be done, and a hundred times, since my return, 
when the head has been overwrought, and the heart, too, 
weary, by night and by day, that beautiful valley has pre- 
sented itself to the mind, as if it would say, "Come hither 
and rest!" 

A single tent was pitched at the base of the bluff, on the 
northern side, the evening shadow had begun to soften the 
outlines of the scene, and a light curling line of smoke, 
rising from the tent, looked the very symbol of quiet and 
repose. The tent was occupied by some haymakers from 
the fort, and one of the number, who has since visited Cin- 
cinnati, an intelligent man, informed me that he was so 
charmed with the spot, that he had selected there his future 
home. 

We were entire strangers at Fort Eiley, not having pro- 
vided ourselves even, with introductions to the officers ; but 
we were received with the open hospitality of the soldier. 
We were directed to the " quarters" of Lieutenant S,, the 
Quartermaster, to whom we made known our wants, who 
said, he would at once supply us with suitable ''rations,'' a 
phrase which, at first, almost provoked a smile. We soon 
found that Uncle Sam feels himself able to *' live tvelV in all 
departments of his great household, and that his ''rations " 
are a true specific remedy for an appetite. We had the 
pleasure of meeting at table several of the younger officers 
of the station, some of them graduates from West Point, 



108 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

and all mingled the bearing of the soldier with the courtesy 
of the gentleman — ready to show us a kindness, even though 
it required the temporary surrender of their own comforts. 

From these officers, acquainted as some of them were with 
Indian warfare, we learned many interesting facts, which 
served to explain the havoc which has sometimes been made 
with small parties of our troops, in their encounters with 
the prairie Indians. 

We were surprised, incredulous, almost offended, when a 
young officer, whose eye and bearing certainly showed no 
lack of courage, deliberately asserted, that our mounted men, 
though armed with revolvers, were in general not a match, 
in close combat, for the mounted Indians, with their bows 
and arrows. But his explanations were satisfactory, and I 
shall henceforth regard these wild warriors as a formidable 
foe, even for those who are armed with the most effective 
weapons of modern times. In the first place, he said, few 
of the dragoons sent on this service, are trained horsemen ; 
and secondly, the horses, also, are "raw recruits," or at 
least unused to Indian warfare. On the contrary, the war- 
riors of the prairie are among the most expert riders in the 
world, and their horses are so thoroughly trained, that they 
seem to obey even a volition of the rider. They ride with- 
out a bridle, guiding the horse by signs, and pressure of the 
limbs upon his body, leaving both hands free for the use of 
weapons. 

Provided with such a horse, with bow and arrows, and a 
spear, the Indian, if he finds the opportunity of closing with 
a dragoon, brings him within range of his arrows, which are 
effective at a distance of about thirty paces, and rides swiftly 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 109 

around liim in a circle, frightening his horse by his yells, 
so as to render any certain aim with the revolver impossible, 
while his own arrows are discharged at horse and man more 
rapidly than even a revolver can be fired. While running 
round the dragoon in a circle, the Indian will lie along the 
outside of his horse, lengthwise, the left leg thrown over the 
back of the horse, the left arm over the neck, the left hand 
holding the bow, and with nothing exposed but one leg and 
one arm, arrows are shot like hail, from under the horses 
neck, while the animal gallops steadily round and round the 
victim, who, unable to manage his horse, that is frightened 
with yells, and maddened with wounds, is too often inglo- 
riously slain by his active and almost invisible enemy. 

These Indians of the plain may be called the American 
Cossack, and are exceedingly troublesome adversaries. Ar- 
tillery is almost useless in any combat with them, except on 
rare occasions, as they do not attack in dense bodies, and 
are able to keep themselves beyond the range of the guns, 
if they choose. 

Perfectly acquainted with the country as they are, they 
lead our troops into ambuscades, or marching y?«^ ahead of 
pursuit, decoy them where no water, or perhaps grass, can 
be found, except by themselves alone. Seldom attacking, 
or permitting themselves to be attacked, unless the advant- 
age is greatly on their side, they have cost our country 
many valuable lives, both of soldiers and among parties 
of emigrants, and we have reason to fear that the plains 
toward the Eocky mountains, will yet be the scenes of many 
fierce encounters. 

The melancholy affair at Fort Laramie, where about thirty 



110 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

soldiers, well armed and with a howitzer, were slain, almost 
in a moment, by the Sioux, shows what they are capable of 
doing; though in this case, those who ought to know, declare 
that the fault was with our soldiers, who began an attack 
without a cause, and against the dictates of common pru- 
dence. 

The late massacre, in Oregon, of an emigrant party from 
Missouri, by the Snake Indians, was made horrible by the 
very worst atrocities of savage war, for which bloody venge- 
ance will, probably, be taken yet, and we may, perhaps, see 
another frontier line drawn long and broad with blood. 
It is to be feared, perhaps believed, that most of these 
Indian murders have been committed on the innocent, in 
retaliation for injuries received from the whites. The judg- 
ment day will bring to light many a bloody deed, perpe- 
trated upon the Indians, in those wide plains, since the 
over-land emigration to the Pacific began. As an illustra- 
tion, I will here relate an occurrence, which took i^lace on 
the banks of the Platte, as described by an eye-witness. 

He was one of a company of nearly five hundred, forming 
one train for California. They generally traveled in small 
divisions, a little distance apart, for convenience in camp- 
ing, and in obtaining wood, grass, and water. One morning, 
while traveling through the Pawnee country, along the 
bank of the Platte, it was found that the head of the 
column of wagons had stopped, and, as those in the rear 
came on, they formed soon a long and solid line. Soon a 
horseman was sent back from the fi'ont, to inform all, that 
the Pawnees had stopped the train, and demanded tribute, 
in the shape of cattle, for passing through their country. 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. Ill 

The train was stopped, and all flocked, with their rifles, to 
the front, until several hundred armed men were there. A 
company of Pawnees had drawn themselves across the road 
with a chief at their head. They were ordered away — and 
soon all began to leave hut the chief. He drew himself 
proudly up, and endeavored to bring back and cheer on his 
warriors. In a moment more he was pierced by fifteen rifle 
balls. The whole band fled toward the river, but fatally 
pursued by a volley of balls, a line of dead stretched to the 
river, and then the whites rushed to the bank, and shot 
those who were struggling in the water. 

It is to be feared that this transaction does not stand 
alone, and that the prairies have drunk up much Indian 
blood which is crying in the ear of God — blood wantonly 
shed without any necessity or even serious provocation. 
These wandering tribes of the prairie are often sorely pressed 
by hunger. Driven from their old hunting-grounds, and 
hemmed in, perhaps, by hostile tribes, they are driven by 
extremity, and sometimes by the neglect of the Government, 
to pilfer from the whites, which thefts are not unfrequently 
atoned for by their blood. It is not unlikely that these 
Pawnees who demanded the cattle, were destitute of food, 
and hoped, in this manner, to save themselves from famine, 
and now, after a wholesale massacre, if one of this tribe 
should strike down a white, in revenge for some kinsman, 
shot on the banks of the Platte, the papers will echo round 
the land, the tale of another Indian murder, and comment 
upon the diabolical traits of their character. 

Their revenge is of the most shocking character, it is 
true ; they seem to be filled with the rage and malignity of 



112 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

devils, but how much worse even this may be in the sight 
of God, than the cool treachery, the heartless robbery,^and 
needless bloodshed, on the part of the white man, is yet 
to be determined. With all their hideous features, there are 
some redeeming traits of nobleness, and there is no sadder 
sight under the heavens, at present, than they, sunk, as it 
would appear, where even the mercy of God can not reach 
them ; as a people they are oppressed with treachery and 
power, and driven onward toward annihilation, strike back 
many a revengeful blow upon those who urge them on. But 
the abyss yawns across their path, and their final disappear- 
ance is near. 

We were informed by the officers, of an intention to estab- 
lish a town on, or near the site of Fort Eiley, and that it is 
the design of the Government, so soon as the settlements in 
the Kansas valley shall reach upward to the fort, to give up 
the position, sell out the grounds and buildings, and estab- 
lish a more western station. Sound policy will doubtless 
require such a step, and a flourishing city may soon appear 
at the head of steamboat navigation on the Kansas. 

We shall ever remember the kindness and hospitality 
shown us by the officers at Fort Eiley, but to view a soldier's 
life, and the trade of war through such a medium, would be 
very much like looking at a slave's life and the system of 
slavery, from the well-furnished rooms and hospitable board 
of an intelligent planter, doing all in his power to render 
your stay agreeable. 

While there, we saw, even at this small station, where 
discipline perhaps, in its strictest forms, is not observed, or 
needed, enough to convince us that the life of a common soldier 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 113 

borders upon both tbat of the criminal and siave. Even 
there, vre saw a company driven home from work under the 
bayonet with cannon balls chained to their legs, and one 
during our stay endeavored to commit suicide while under 
confinement for punishment. Another, who had come from 
the State of New York, gave me to understand that he pre- 
ferred any position in life where he could be a freeman, to 
the life of a soldier. Said another soldier, just discharged, 
" Our life is the life of a slave." It will be a joyful day for 
earth when *' the nations shall not learn war any more." 

These young officers have since been ordered to Fort Lara- 
mie, to engage in that Indian warfare which one of them so 
graphically described, nor would it be surprising if they, 
also, should be added to the list of the prairie dead. 

IC 



CHAPTER XVII. 

FROM FORT RILEY TO COUNCIL GROVE — KAW INDIANS. 

Fort Eiley does not stand, where it is placed on most 
maps, in the forks of the Republican and Smoky Hill, but 
on the north bank of the Eepublican, and perhaps half a 
mile from the stream. A steam saw-mill has however been 
erected within the forks, by the Government. The Eepub- 
lican, which is about two hundred feet wide and runs with 
a rapid current, is spanned by a substantial bridge, while 
on the road to Council Grove, there is a ferry across the 
Smoky Hill, whose waters, as I have said, are quite salt to 
the taste. 

After crossing the Smoky Hill, we entered at once the 
fine grove of timber on its eastern bank, about two miles in 
width, as we thought, though the road did not cross it at 
right angles, and we were liable to overrate the distance. 
It was the merriest and finest woodland scene that we had 
found in Kansas. The trees were of great size, tall and 
thrifty, while rank vines and shrubbery of various kinds 
showed the exuberant fertility of the soil. The trees were 
filled with a great variety of birds, among which the blue- 
jay, reminded us most strongly of home, and me, in particu- 
lar, of that early home of childhood among the hills of New 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 115 

England, where so often, in the bright mornings of autumn, 
when the frost had crisped the grass, and clothed the forests 
in a shroud as gay as if it were a bridal garment, I had lis- 
tened to that bird, when it was so still that I could hear 
each falling leaf as it rustled down among the branches, 
and fell amid its dead companions. And now the cry of 
that familiar bird, and the blue wings glancing among the 
leaves, swept space away, rolled back the years, and placed 
me, where, alas! if I were there, indeed, there would be 
little to greet me, unless the dead could rise from their 
graves. 

Squirrels seemed to be very happy, while industriously 
gathering their winter's store ; quails would start up, almost 
from beneath the horses' feet, while a flock of paroquets, 
chattering above us, reminded me that I was not in New 
England. 

The eastern bluff of the Smoky Hill rises very abruptly, 
and it was not without difficulty that our two strong horses 
could drag up it the light wagon which we were using. 
Once up it, the same seemingly endless, rolling plain, was 
spread before us, destitute of timber, eastward, to the very 
limit of vision. This high ground, or " divide," as it is 
called, between Fort Eiley and Council Grove, is, in general, 
the least attractive of any region which we passed over. 

For some fifteen miles it was entirely destitute of timber, 
and we saw no water by the roadside, though from the un- 
dulating character of the prairie, it is not probable that 
springs were altogether wanting. Parts of this tract are 
covered with small pebbles, or rather fragments of flint, 
nodules from the limestone mixed with pieces of the limestone 



116 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

itself, giving the plain, sometimes, where the grass had been 
lately burned off, a mottled appearance, the white pebbles 
contrasting with the dark ground. Even here, the soil, 
though thin, was black, and apparently productive. 

About fifteen miles from Fort Eiley, is Clark creek. It 
is a small but very clear and bright little stream, looking 
like a New England hrook. It has a narrow bottom, of fine- 
looking land, where farms might be selected, in a sheltered 
position, with pastures on the high prairie, above. Crossing 
Clark creek, we rose again to the higher level, which con- 
tinued for about eight miles further, when we saw in the 
far distance, and on a lower level, faint blue lines, which 
marked the position and course of the head streams of tho 
Neosho and Osage. We soon found ourselves on the crest, 
if it may be so called, of a broad slope, which sinks down- 
ward toward those streams, and a most beautiful region of 
country was open before us, in which woodland seemed to 
be sufficiently abundant for life's purposes, and where grain- 
land and meadows, and hill-side pastures, were ready on 
all sides for the population to come. Here is one of the 
finest regions in the Territory for a large colony, and the 
colony might be large enough to occupy a county. It is 
about one hundred and thirty miles from Kansas City, and 
here is the old trading-post, called Council Grove. It is on 
the great Santa Ee road, and a town in this vicinity would 
probably become, to a considerable extent, a depot for this 
southwestern trade, while the agricultural resources of the 
surrounding country, being almost unlimited, would of 
themselves support a large inland city. This district of 
country may have its commercial connection with the Kansas 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 117 

valley, or it may flow southeastward, to the point where the 
Southwestern Branch Eailway will touch Kansas, and thus 
communicate with St. Louis and the east; while it is pos- 
sible, that a portion of the commerce of southern and south- 
eastern Kansas may take the directioi\ of Eort Gibson, 
and the Arkansas valley. There can be no doubt, that a 
few years will see this fine district thronging with a pros- 
perous population. The mildness of its climate, and the 
fertility of its soil, will attract a crowd of settlers, so soon 
as its value is known. The Methodist mission-house, and a 
few log-cabins, constitute the whole of Council Grove, as it 
now is, and the site of the present confused ''huddle" 
seems not very happily chosen. 

The " Mission " is merely a school, the Kaws not consent- 
ing to have the Gospel preached among them. They send 
a few of their children irregularly to a school, in which 
little or nothing is, or can be done. The name of " Mis- 
sion" does not very well describe the thing; and this, we 
think, is not the only " Mission," in Kansas, to which the 
same remark would apply. It would do no harm, if this 
whole subject of Indian missions were somewhat more 
closely investigated by the Churches. Some unexpected 
disclosures might be made, perhaps, by such a scrutiny, and 
the matter would be stripped of much of the heroic, and 
the romantic, with which it has been so largely invested. 
Many dreams of Christian Indian nations just budding into 
life on the frontier, would, probably, be put to flight, by a 
journey even through Kansas. 

We found at Council Grove, about fifteen hundred of the 
Kaws encamped. A difficulty had arisen between them and 



118 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

the Sauks ; one of the Kaws had been killed, and his tribe 
threatened revenge. It was rumored that the Pottawatomies 
would join the Sauks, and the Kaws had come in and en- 
camped at Council Grove, with the expectation of greater 
safety near the Mission, or that they might receive some aid 
in settling their quarrel. To this we owed the opportunity 
of seeing, for the first time, a large body of Indians. I had 
never before seen a community of real, absolute heathen, for 
such these Kaws are, permitting no Christian teaching 
among them, except some trifling instruction in reading and 
writing, to a few of their children. They are among the 
lowest and poorest of the Indian tribes — guilty of all the 
vices that Paul ascribes to heathenism, in the first chap- 
ter of Piomans — and if any new wickedness has been in- 
vented since Paul wrote, they doubtless have learned even 
that. In observing these miserable creatures, I was moved, 
sometimes to laughter and sometimes with pity, for their 
ignorance of all good, and consequent wretchedness. In 
them, sin had wrought out, without much restraint, its 
legitimate consequences, and they aff'orded the most fearful 
evidence of its nature, and its power. No such illustration 
of the character of man, as he is when left to himself, had 
fallen under my eye before, and it enabled me to estimate, 
as I had not previously done, what Christianity has already 
accomplished for the world, even where most of its influ- 
ences are merely collateral. The difi'erence between an 
encampment of these heathen Kaws, and a Christian com- 
munity, no mathematics can calculate. The scene was 
enough to stagger one's belief in the unity of the race, and 
I must confess that my brotherly feelings required a little 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 119 

nursing, a little application of Christian philosophy as a 
stimulant ; and I cannot declare, with truth, that I felt any 
of the movings and yearnings of that mysterious affection 
which, it is said, will attract kindred to each other, although 
personally strangers. I must acknowledge, that my heart 
did not gravitate very strongly toward my brothers and 
sisters, of the Kaw branch of the family. I believe, most 
fully and firmly, in the unity and brotherhood of the race, 
but I found it difficult to get "a realizing sense'' of this 
Kaw relationship. 

Man is a sorrowful sight, when he has fallen so low that 
there is no sublimity in his ruin ; and it magnifies, beyond 
measure, the riches of the grace of God — the power as well 
as the love exhibited in the Gospel — that it can arrest the 
lowest in his fall, and however degraded and polluted he 
may be, can re-create, elevate, and refine him, until he 
becomes fit to associate with angels, and to stand in the 
presence of God. From such considerations, with a com- 
pany of heathen before us, we are led to /ee? that the Gospel 
is a resistless power — the power of God! This side of 
eternity, the individual man can not sink beyond the reach 
of salvation. But the life of nations is governed by another 
law, and we see them fall, where no effort or power, even of 
Christianity, can recover them. Unwillingly have I been 
brought to the conclusion, that this is the condition of our 
American tribes. Their probation as communities, is over, 
their judgment day even is passed; nationally, they are 
among the lost. Let individuals, if possible, by all effort, 
be snatched as brands from the burning, and as trophies of 
the surprising grace of God — but national vitality there is 



120 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

none. Even if this theory is false, the Indian tribes can 
never be socially and politically recovered by a Grosi:)el which 
teaches them to adopt and cherish the most hateful enormity 
of dualized life. While their teachers are slaveholders, or 
the defenders of slavery — ^while the churches to which they 
are invited, welcome the slaveholder to membership and 
communion — it is the error of one morally insane to imagine 
that they can be socially or politically saved. When our 
own civilization, the strongest and best, upon the whole, 
which earth ever saw, reels under the burden of slavery, 
and sickens with its moral poison, and gasps and struggles in 
its distress, what madness, what cruelty to lay all this upon 
the weakness of those who, in addition, have heathenism itself 
to contend with ! We may lay aside all moral considerations, 
and leave out of sight the sin of slavery, and regard it only 
in a social and political point of view, and then safely say 
that slavery will present an insuperable barrier to the eleva- 
tion of these tribes, and make their ruin sure. 

The Indian can not endure the curse of slavery with as 
little injury as the Anglo-Saxon. The characteristics of the 
latter are activity and energy, power in action ; and this 
tends to secure the full exercise, the complete development 
of his faculties. He will not rust in sloth, though surrounded 
with slaves, to do his bidding. He has a mental vitality 
which " dies hard,'" even when throttled by slavery. He 
will, if possible, abandon manual labor; he will scorn all 
handicrafts and mechanic arts ; he will suffer his home, 
plantation and all about him, to wear the aspect of the most 
helpless shiftlcssness, lacking all neatness, and real comfort, 
but he will not lie down and doze his life away like a gorged 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 121 

OX, in the shade, or a pig in the stye. If he can be nothing 
else, he will become a politician, and busy himself in saving 
the Union. For such an individual, or people, slavery will 
not prove suddenly fatal. Though sure to destroy in the 
end, the strength of the character is slowly undermined. 

But the Indian is naturally indolent, cruel, and sensual. 
The development of his nature requires the full power of all 
the stimulants of a free, Christian society, to cherish the 
weak points in his character, with a vigorous culture. 

Slavery seizes upon the very worst, most odious features 
of his nature, and gives them supreme control of his life. 
His indolence ; his aversion to any effort beyond the neces- 
sity of the hour ; his improvidence, cruelty, and sensuality, 
are made all the stronger by this facility of indulgence, and 
to attempt to raise him to the dignity and excellence of 
Christian, civilized man, with this incubus on his soul, is 
to strive against the force of eternal law. A mission to the 
Indians which does not condemn and utterly exclude slavery, 
carries not with it one element of ultimate success. The 
most important missionary effort of the age, for the Indian, 
is that which proposes to plant among them free institu- 
tions — to hold up before them the example, and throw over 
them the influence of free and industrious communities. 

The Kaws were encamped at no great distance from our 
lodgings, and they are worthy of a special place among the 
curiosities of Kansas. There were groups which those who 
are fond of statuary might love to study. They were the 
first persons I had ever met, who, to my certain knowledge, 
were entirely free from any patronage of slave-labor cotton. 
This sin could not be laid to th^ir charge, for from crown to 
11 



122 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

sole, not a shred of anything covered any part of the body. 
There were children of perhaps six years old walking about 
the public street, and mingling with others, and exhibit- 
ing no more anxiety about clothing, than the pigs they 
played with. From this lowest starting point of total naked- 
ness, the styles of dress rose upward in a series, whose cul- 
minating point was a partial covering of the body. Carlyle 
should have seen these Kaws before he wrote his "Philoso- 
phy of Clothes ;" he would have gained a tolerably clear 
idea how a naked Chancellor would actually appear on the 
wool-sack. The style next to entire nudity, was a change 
so slight as not to startle or offend by its abruptness. It 
was worn by boys of from twelve to fifteen years old, appa- 
rently, and consisted merely of a very narrow band around 
the loins. The next style exhibited leggins, only, with 
nothing above the waist. Next came one who had adopted 
what may be called the intermediate or half-way style, 
between nothing and full costume. He wore a blanket round 
his shoulders, but one leg of his pantaloons was missing ; 
yet being a man of middle age he wore the 07ie leg with great 
gravity, and, for aught I know, it might have been an official 
garb. The full dress consisted of leggins and a blanket, 
with no shirt; and as the weather was warm they were, 
generally, when sitting, naked to the waist. 

The heads of the men were shaved so as to leave an upright 
crest about two inches high, shaped like a double cock's 
comb. In the center of this the scalping-lock is permitted 
to grow long, and is braided like a queue. In their poverty, 
ornaments were few and grotesque. The feathers of prairie 
hawks and eagles were worn, not ungracefully, in the hair. 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 123 

All kinds and shapes of bright things were hung in the ears, 
of which bunches of silver drops seemed to be most highly 
prized, and one, a little ambitious and particular in the 
general style of his dress, had several strings of beads 
around his neck, fastened in front in some way, by a large 
clam-shell. The edges of the ears were colored with red 
paint, and a red line was frequently drawn round the base 
of the circular crest of hair, and sometimes the cheeks, also, 
were tinged. One old man, apparently from the want of 
means, for the purchase of paint, had mixed up some prairie 
mud, and daubed his face into a considerable degree of 
fashion and respectability. 

One thing was highly amusing, and perhaps ought to be 
instructive. Whether naked or clothed, whether their panta- 
loons had two legs, or only one, whether they had paint or 
mud on their faces, they demeaned themselves with a gravity 
which nothing could disturb, and their carriage was, in 
general, erect, dignified, and proud ; sometimes, even scorn- 
ful. The only instances where I observed any relaxation 
of haughtiness, were where one endeavored to persuade us to 
break open a closet, in the house where we were staying, in 
order to get him some tobacco, and another undertook 
to sell me a coat and pantaloons, which he had probably 
stolen elsewhere — this last smiled, exhibited, and persuaded 
like an old clothes-man. On Sunday evening there was 
loud riot and revelry in their camps, and all seemed to join 
in yelling out a song, which was so softened and modulated 
by floating half a mile, as to enable Mr. Mason to write down 
its principal notes, and after his return he performed or 



124 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

imitated it on the organ, mucli to the astonishment and 
amusement of those who heard. 

After all, the predominant feeling was pity for those poor 
creatures, ignorant, degraded, and almost friendless ; appa- 
rently forsaken of God, and certainly despised and abused 
by man. They will soon be compelled by Government to 
treat for their lands, and retire before the white man. 



CHAPTER XYIII. 

NUMBER OF INHABITANTS NOW IN THE TERRITORY — 
SLAVEHOLDERS — THEIR FEELINGS AND PLANS. 

We made many endeavors to ascertain this, but could 
arrive at no very satisfactory result. We know not how it 
can be determined until the census is taken. Major Ogden, 
at Fort Leavenworth, estimates the number on the Delaware 
lands alone, at twelve hundred. The more general opinion 
seemed to be, that there may be now (Sept. 1854), in all, 
some four to five thousand in the Territory. Still, this is a 
mere estimate. 

Fictitious claims are made on all sides, and little can be 
known of the true state of things. The statements of some 
slaveholders would indicate that the whole country, or nearly 
so, is already occupied by friends of " the institution." A 
few will combine for speculation in a certain locality, and 
soon a squatter association is formed ; a registrar and other 
officers are chosen from among themselves ; the surrounding 
region is claimed ; entries are made on the registrar's book, 
of long lists of names, and strangers are informed, unless 
they are of the ''right hind,^' that the land in that vicinity 
is all " taken up." Such combinations have been entered into 
sometimes, for the purpose of keeping out *' the abolition- 



126 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

ists," and if they who use this weapon should find that it 
has two edges, with one turned toward themselves, they need 
not be surprised. Such associations have ''got up " settlers' 
meetings, and sent forth terrible resolutions, as the voice of 
the sovereigns of Kansas, of the passing of which, these said 
sovereigns were entirely ignorant. They have been quietly 
engaged in their pursuits, while a few speculators and poli- 
ticians have been passing resolutions, saving the Union, and 
protecting and extending " our peculiar institutions.'' 

The first excitement on the borders of Missouri, in 
reference to the settlement of Kansas, and which manifested 
itself in a few meetings and intemperate resolutions, has 
already passed, to return no more. The actors in these 
scenes are even now, by no means, proud of their doings, 
while by the masses such proceedings are not merely dis- 
countenanced, but treated with contempt. A settler in 
Kansas need have no more apprehension than if he were 
about to locate in Illinois or Iowa. 

Here and there, he will find little associations composed 
of those in sympathy with the slaveholders, who have, per- 
haps, covered the region round them with fictitious claims, 
in order to exclude the "Yankees" from their neighbor- 
hood, but then the same thing is also done by those who 
call themselves free-soilers, for the purpose of shutting out 
slaveholders. 

This will soon be over. The difierent parties will, ere 
long, be mingled, from proximity, and the strong necessity 
of companionship, and of social and business relations. It 
is, we think, wisely and mercifully ordered in the provi- 
dence of God, that extremes meet here on neutral ground. 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 127 

Asperities will be softened, and prejudices removed. One 
little circumstance will illustrate the working of these 
causes. 

A Missourian in the Territory, needing some assistance, 
applied to his own fellow Missourians, and was refused, but 
some New England men immediately gave him the needed 
aid. Not long after the Missourians invited the New Eng- 
landers to send some of their number to them, and they 
would show them " good claims.'' 

I have already alluded to our stay in Weston, where 
most of the violent proceedings, which have been published, 
originated; and since our return we have seen it stated, 
that Weston is bent on blood. We have no hesitation in 
saying, that no eastern man will be harmed in Weston, 
unless he desires to produce excitement. As the circular 
which we have inserted proves, the business men of that place 
have not participated in the folly enacted there, and which 
we feel sure will not be repeated, the interests of com- 
merce demand a liberal policy, and it will be enforced. 

We have seen the proceedings of a meeting held at Salt 
creek, in many eastern papers, which have been presented 
as evidence of the state of public sentiment in Kansas, and 
of the dangers that will there beset the path of anti-slavery, 
or any eastern settlers. It may, perhaps, not be amiss to 
give an account of this meeting, according to a Missourian 
who was on the ground. In the first place, the call for the 
meeting was so circulated, that some living within a short 
distance of the appointed spot, did not even hear of it until 
afterward. Then, the " immense multitude," mentioned 
in the papers, numbered not more than one hundred, assem- 



128 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

bled at one time, many of whom were Missourians, who had 
crossed the river to ''regulate^' the affairs of Kansas. A 
committee on resolutions was appointed. The majority re- 
port was in favor of liberal principles and proceedings — the 
minority report took the opposite and exclusive position. 
The author of this minority report, in spite of the ruling 
of the chairman, and, of course, contrary to all propriety, 
called for a vote on his minority report ^rs^, and put this 
vote himself. About seventy, including Missourians who 
had crossed for the purpose, voted that Kansas ought to be, 
and should be a slave State. The same man put the con- 
trary in this form: "All who are in favor of giving up 
Kansas to the Abolitionists and Freesoilers, signify it," kc. 

All but about thirty, then left the ground ; they, appointed 
a new chairman, and passed the minority resolutions, unan- 
imously, and then the papers spread, far and wide, the pro- 
ceedings of an "immense multitude" of Kansas settlers, 
and the unanimity with which they determined that slavery 
should be established in the Territory. Such transactions 
exhibit the spirit and the tactics of some of the slaveholders 
and loud-mouthed small-politicians on the frontier. They 
show, i^lainly, what these people are capable of, and would 
do, were they able to accomplish their purpose — it proves 
the need of prompt, fearless, and united action, on the part 
of the friends of freedom, but it represents only the senti- 
ments of a busy and reckless clicjue, to whom the business 
community is directly opposed. 

Such meetings are merely empty gasconade, which might 
be followed by action, if the east should be frightened 
thereby. 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 129 

Kansas is fully open to all who choose to make it their 
abode. For the present, there will be little separate cliques, 
or bands, drawn together by sympathies and affinities, and 
for a time they may keep apart, and ''claim'' and save, if 
they can, the country around them, for friends, but in a 
little time they will all be mingled. What is called the 
"free-soil" principle, is the prevailing sentiment, even in 
Missouri. They mean by it, however, simply this — that 
they are willing that all should come, and that the question 
of slavery should be fairly decided, by the popular vote. 
A "free-soiler," in western phrase, is by no means, neces- 
sarily an anti-slavery man. 

From the most reliable information we could obtain, we 
suppose that a large majority of those now in the Territory 
are opposed to its becoming a slave-state. Most slave- 
holders, themselves, profess to consider the question as 
virtually settled against them, and the party of freedom 
have the prestige of anticipated victory. 

It would, however, be a mistake, likely to be attended 
with fatal results, should the friends of freedom in the east 
relax one iota of their efforts. With all the present fair- 
seeming, Kansas is not yet, by any means, safe. That class 
is not a small one, and it will increase, whose final vote will 
be determined by circumstances, and who may be influenced 
at the critical moment, by those means and appliances which 
slaveholders, and their political abettors know so well how 
to employ. That anti-slavery sentiment, which is based on 
principle, and which can endure alike opposition or temp- 
tation, is not yet very widely spread, nor very deeply rooted 
in Kansas. The east and north should be aroused, until 



130 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

its emigrants shall be poured in by thousands, and the 
party of freedom is placed in an overwhelming majority, 
until neither a hope nor a possibility remains of making it 
a possession for slavery. 

There are two facts by which our hopes are strengthened, 
that Kansas will be free, which are independent of other con- 
siderations. First, the character of the productions for 
which the soil is fitted, and the general nature of her 
resources. Her agricultural productions will be essentially 
those of Missouri and Kentucky, and it is exceedingly 
doubtful, whether, with all their prejudices in favor of the 
system, slavery could be now established in either of those 
States, if that, instead of emancipation, were the question 
now to be submitted to the people. As the general rule, 
those who will leave Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and 
Missouri, for Kansas, are from that class who are least at- 
tached to slavery, and many of them not only have no inter- 
est in its support, but their interests stand opposed. 

They are often men with large families and small means, 
who will emigrate for the purpose of procuring farms for 
their sons, and who have not the means of owning slaves, 
even if they had the disposition. Such men, who expect to 
labor themselves, will not desire the presence of the aristo- 
cratic slaveholder, who will class the free laborer with his 
negro servants, and treat him with contempt. It is un- 
doubtedly true, that in Kansas are some of the finest hemp- 
lands in the world; but it is also true that the best of 
these are, for the present, embraced, in large measure, in 
the Indian reservations, and the question of slavery will 
probably be decided before these are brought into market. 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 131 

Though hemp and tobacco may be successfully cultivated, 
and to some extent will be, yet corn, wheat, oats, and stock 
are likely to be the great staples of Kansas, and these are 
no longer a very profitable basis of slave labor, though per- 
haps they may be of a slave-hreeding community. Human 
cattle may be raised in Kansas. Yet the high prices and 
ready market which food will command there, for years to 
come, will present a drawback, even upon the breeding of 
slaves. It is likely that horses, oxen, and mules may prove 
more profitable. 

The second fact to which wc referred is this : It seems 
probable that a large portion of the lands of Kansas will be 
"claimed" or occupied by squatters previous to the survey. 
As a ''claim,'" or preemption right covers but one hundred 
and sixty acres, it can only be by indirect methods, if at all, 
that larger tracts can be secured, and the watchfulness and 
eagerness of settlers will be likely to prevent this, in all 
desirable locations ; so that before the lands are on sale by 
the Government, a large portion of them will be divided into 
farms of one hundred and sixty acres each, not large enough 
for plantations. To these considerations, it may also be 
added, that it would be almost a suicidal act for the slave- 
power to vote Kansas a slave State, against a heavy minority 
of freemen ; and should the emigration from the north and 
east be carried at once so far as to constitute a considerable 
part, though not a majority of the population, Kansas would 
even then be ultimately free. Slaveholders can not live 
there in the presence of a strong minority of freemen. Slave 
property would, in the present state of feeling be almost or 
nearly valueless there ; the emigration from the free States 



132 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

would, comparatively, increase, and that from the slave 
States decrease, and so in the end a victory will be won for 
freedom, if large bodies from the free States are thrown in 
at the vei-y first. When once the northern States have 
heavy interests at stake in Kansas, those interests will be 
protected. Let it not be supposed that the question is 
finally settled, if the slaveholders of Missouri should succeed 
in carrying the first election. It will even then be but the 
beginning of a contest that in the end must be decided 
aright. Unless eastern emigration receives an early check, 
Kansas will ultimately be free. The first few thousands 
will draw multitudes after them. 

Kansas may easily be made a free State. It is now com- 
pletely in the power of freedom's friends. They can save it 
if they will, without unreasonable eflfort, and without even 
pecuniary sacrifice. But we desire to lift our voice in warn- 
ing against the idea that it will be a free State now, as a 
matter of course. Every man whose circumstances will 
allow, should feel that he is personally called upon to go 
and aid in making it sure. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE IMPOETANCE OF KANSAS, AS SEEN IN HER POSITION 
AND RELATIONS TO OTHER PORTIONS OF THE COUNTRY. 

The eastern part of Kansas occupies the central position 
in that line of country which forms the eastern boundary of 
what is called the American Desert, a belt about two hun- 
dred and fifty miles wide, a portion of which is without 
timber, and almost without rains. She will then be, in an 
important sense, a point of departure and outfit for the 
western trade — an exchange point between the Eastern 
States and the farthest West. She will be a point of depart- 
ure for the western commerce, and a point of arrival for that 
coming eastward from the vast regions beyond her ; and 
should the country between Fort Eiley and the Kocky moun- 
tains, become, as many suppose, mining and manufacturing 
regions, their supplies must be derived from the commerce 
and agriculture of Kansas. The position of Kansas, there- 
fore, is certain to create for her an extensive commerce and 
a steady home market for all her productions. 

There are, also, grave moral and political interests and 
influences connected with her position and relations, which 
render it of unspeakable importance that she should be 
secured from the dominion of the slave power — and that 



134 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

there a genuine Puritan State sliouid be established, both as 
a model and center of influence, and a point of departure 
for other enterprises in favor of freedom. The churches of 
Christ and the friends of free institutions, universally, 
should arouse themselves to consider the significance of 
passing events. Are they not clear indications of the will 
of G-od ? Do they not speak to us in an almost audible 
voice ? How quickly, how completely, how unexpectedly to 
all, has God changed the field and character of the struggle 
between slavery and freedom ! 

Kansas may be regarded as a political upheaval. Like 
islands that have been formed in the night by volcanic 
action, or mountains suddenly lifted out of the plains of 
South America, Kansas has been upheaved from the political 
ocean, by the internal fires of party, and has become at once 
one of the most prominent objects on our Continent. With 
thousands, who a few months ago had never even heard of 
Kansas, it is now the chief subject of thought and inquiry. 
Minesota and all her northwestern sisters are partially for- 
gotten, and the pioneer army is directing its march upon 
the vast central plains that form the heart of the Continent. 

Eightly considered, one of the most suggestive scenes that 
has been looked on for a hundred years in this country, 
was when the first large emigrant party from New England 
stepped upon the slave-soil of Missouri, at St. Louis, on its 
way to Kansas. In that silent, unheeded act, was the 
inauguration of a new era, unknown though it might be to 
the actors themselves. It was the advance-guard of free- 
dom's hosts which was taking possession of the lands and 
dominion of slavery in the name of God and humanity. It 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 135 

was the first ripple of that new stream of emigration which, 
for years to come, is to swell on that southern shore with a 
broader and stronger tide. 

For the first time, emigration from the north has changed 
its direction, and turned toward the south. Should it fol- 
low along its new course with the same impetuosity and 
power that have marked it hitherto, then it may be safely 
said that a new order of things has already begun — the 
nature and the scene of the conflict between freedom and 
slavery have been changed. It is the beginning of a peace- 
ful but irresistible occupation of southern and southwestern 
lands, that will roll slavery back upon itself, and remove it 
toward the sea-coast and the Gulf. 

This change in the direction of the line of emigration 
may be regarded as the most interesting phenomenon at 
present in our country. Let once this current *'se< in''' 
upon the south, and it will no more be checked than the 
flow of the Gulf-stream itself. Freedom, in its turn, will 
filially become aggressive, will seek extension, and conquer 
by an exhibition of the arts of peace. There is no clause 
in the Constitution to prevent northern freemen from set- 
tling in colonies, if they please, either in southwestern Terri- 
tories or in southern States. The soil and climate invite, 
and the south must receive in peace this peaceful "Army 
of Occupation,'' though their coming will prove the over- 
throw of her institutions — for they will root them up in a 
Constitutional and Christian-like manner, by showing them 
a " more excellent way." 

Upon the question of the settlement of Kansas, the fate 
of the slave-power now hangs, more especially than upon 



136 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

the movements of political parties. The contest for the 
possession of this Territory will end in giving an effectual, 
if not decisive blow to the defeated party. From a defeat 
there, slavery can never recover itself, and if the slave- 
power is victorious, it will have at its disposal almost every 
conceivable earthly advantage. It would effectually exclude 
the people of the northern States from the fairest and most 
fertile regions of the Continent, and completely hem them in 
with institutions at war with every principle of a free. Chris- 
tian republic, and cut them off, by interposed slave States, 
from our Pacific possessions. But let us look for a moment 
at the influence which she would exert, as a free State, with 
institutions constructed after the Puritan model. 

On the east of her lies Missouri ; on the south, those In- 
dian tribes that are just assuming some of the forms of 
civilization, and Texas. On these Indian lands, new Terri- 
tories are soon to be erected, on the west of Arkansas. West 
of her is Utah. 

Let us now suppose that such a State as Massachusetts, 
or New York, or Ohio, were established on the Territory of 
Kansas, and thoroughly penetrated and controlled by the 
spirit of freedom, and a true Christianity should there pre- 
sent, as a *' city set on a hill," its peaceful but resistless 
example. It would be, for all the vast regions west and 
southwest of the Mississippi, even to the Eocky mountains 
and Mexico, the dawn of a new era, decisive of their des- 
tiny. 

Such a free State as Kansas is capable of sustaining, and 
built on such a model, with its cities, and commerce, its 
capital, and manufacturing skill and power, its schools, and 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 137 

scientific and benevolent institutions, its churches and reli- 
gious influences and observances, would wield there 'an 
influence, to which none could object, peaceful, constitutional^ 
unobtrusive, but perfectly irresistible, and which, in the 
end, would be welcomed and rejoiced over, even by slave- 
holders themselves. 

In this manner, without the strife of parties, without the 
bitterness of sectional conflict, rather by the allaying of 
prejudice, and the union, not severance of interests, a tri- 
umph of the noblest kind might be won over slavery — a 
Christian victory — the overcoming of evil with good. With 
the exception of a portion of its northeastern boundary, 
there is no mountain, lake, or river, or any other natural 
feature to separate it from Missouri, or any neighboring 
Territory, on the north, east, or south. This is a circum- 
stance of great importance, in estimating future influences 
to be given and received. The Ohio river, flowing between 
free and slave States, is sufficient to hold them apart. Were 
it not for the river, these States could not be held asunder. 
They would soon be knit together by a thousand interlacing 
ties. 

Except at the point just mentioned, nothing will separate 
Kansas from Missouri and other neighbors, but a mere 
boundary line, invisible to the eye, and offering no obstruc- 
tion to passage. By the presence of such a State as we 
have supposed upon her border, and no interposing barrier, 
Missouri would be, perhaps slowly, but certainly revolu- 
tionized. She would be penetrated by the leaven of free 
institutions ; she would be peacefully changed into the image 
12 



138 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

of the better example before her, and slavery -would pass 
away. 

In this case too, the powerful center of attraction which 
such a free State would form, would direct southward upon 
Missouri, the Territories to be formed on the south of Kan- 
sas, upon northeastern Arkansas, and western Texas, a tide 
of free emigration, which would prevent forever the forma- 
tion of another slave State in all that region, and cut short 
entirely, the march of slavery in that direction. 

Another consideration, bearing upon this point, should 
not be lost sight of. The population of Kansas will be 
composed of mingled elements, probably to a greater extent 
than any other State in the Union. It will be a neutral 
Territory, where for the first time in the history of the 
country, the tides of northern and southern emigration will 
meet on the large scale. Hitherto, emigration has moved 
westward, nearly on parallels of latitude, and these streams, 
except in California, have not met, though running west- 
ward on parallel lines. 

The eastern States have, by emigration, prolonged each 
itself westward. We mean that this is the general result. 
The northern stream has now been deflected southward upon 
Kansas, and there the lines, from all the States, except the 
extreme south, will concentrate and mingle. 

The emigrants from the northern States will meet there 
Missourians, Kentuckians, Virginians and Tennesseeans, 
They will be thrown into neighborhood associations. Busi- 
ness, social and domestic relations, will spring up between 
them, common interests will bind them together, prejudices 



JOUKNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 1S& 

will he allayed, and friendsliips will be established, and 
they will be woven together by the countless interlacings of 
society. If, under such circumstances, Kansas should be- 
come a free, a model State, the reflective influence which it 
would exert upon Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Vir- 
ginia, could not be estimated. 

They would then be bound to freedom and the north, by 
countless new ties, of the strongest and most sacred char- 
acter, and the ultimate consequence would be, if a separa- 
tion of the Union should ever come, it would place these 
States in the northern division. Eather might it be said, 
that such a state of things would render disunion impossible. 
Such results are the natural consequences of the intermin- 
gling which will take place on this ''middle ground" of 
Kansas, and the flowing-forth of the affections of older 
communities to the new States, which their sons and their 
daughters have formed. 

These consequences, though some of them may be remote, 
would be almost certain to follow from making Kansas free ; 
they are fairly within reach of the friends of freedom now, 
and most earnestly do we desire that the opportunity may 
not pass unheeded away. "VVe regard this idea of the colo- 
nization of the west and southwest — this conquest of slavery 
by the showing of the more excellent way — as one of the 
grandest conceptions of modern times. It is a peaceful 
march of freedom's armies in a holy crusade, for the securing 
of human rights, and the extending a true Christian civili- 
zation to our remotest borders. 

It will plant northern energy, skill, capital, and industry, 
upon a new and nobler theater. It will move men in masses. 



140 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

SO that their character, sentiments, and institutions, will 
all be preserved entire. It is not merely emigration — it is 
colonization — and these colonies, if properly formed, and 
wisely conducted, will settle, under God, the question of 
American slavery. Earnestly should the friends of freedom 
and a free Christianity, so exert themselves that companies 
may be speedily formed, all over the north, of those who 
will go, and of those who will embark their capital ; for any 
company can, by judicious management, secure a rich return 
for capital employed. Especially do we, of Ohio, hope that 
southern Ohio will not hesitate to take interest and part in 
this great enterprise, but that she will cause herself to be 
represented by one of the largest and noblest colonies in 
Kansas. The stake which Cincinnati has in this enterprise, 
is a very deep one, and her business men should give it a 
prompt and serious consideration. Should Kansas become 
a slave State, the bitter and aggressive spirit of slavery 
would be intensified by the victory, and the late proceed- 
ings at Memphis and St. Louis, show how prompt the slave- 
holding power would be to exclude Cincinnati from the trade 
of that whole west and southwest. And they will succeed, 
if Kansas is linked by her institutions and sympathies to 
the south. Nothing has lately been presented to Cincin- 
nati, of more importance than to bind Kansas, and all 
that surrounding region, to her by all the affinities which 
free institutions, on botH sides can create, and by sending 
there, in large numbers, the sons and daughters of Ohio, 
to bind Kansas to her by the ties of kindred and old asso- 
ciation. Let it be considered, how the trade of the north- 
ern part of the great valley has thus been S'^>cured to New 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 141 

York and Boston, and how those who have settled here from 
New Jersey and Pennsylvania, have sent back a commerce 
to Philadelphia. 

The operation of such causes is sure, and if Cincinnati is 
wise, she will avail herself of them, on the large scale. No 
city of the Union has advantages for this work equal to 
hers. 



CHAPTER XX. 

HOMESTEAD AND PRE-EMPTION LAW. 

There is no homestead law, as some liave supposed, appli- 
cable to Kansas. By the law of pre-emption, any person 
being the " head of a family, or widow, or single man, over 
the age of twenty-one years, and being a citizen of the 
United States, or having filed his declaration of intention 
to become a citizen, as required by the naturalization laws," 
is entitled to enter upon any unoccupied public lands, and 
"claim" any number of acres not exceeding one hundred 
and sixty, (a quarter section). He must make a ''settle- 
ment upon the land thus claimed, and erect thereon a 
dwelling. This claim and settlement must be made in per- 
son, and the claimant must "inhabit and improve" the 
same — in order to have a legal protection against others who 
might claim the same ground. 

When this land has already been surveyed, the pre-emptor 
must within thirty days after the settlement upon his land, 
" enter it," in the proper land-office, and within twelve 
months from the time of settlement, payment must be made. 
A man who makes a "claim" to unsurveyed lands, as in 
Kansas, must file a description of his "claim," with the 
Surveyor-General within three months after the survey has 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 143 

been made in the field, and then (though the law does not 
specify), it is supposed, that as in the case of surveyed 
lands, before stated, the settler is allowed twelve months 
in which to make his payment to the Government. As the 
survey of Kansas has not yet commenced, and little will be 
done until next spring, the settlers will mostly enjoy the 
use of their lands for perhaps two years from next spring, 
before payment will be required by the Government. I 
have thought best, however, to insert here an abstract of the 
pre-emption laws, prepared lately by C. C. Andrews, Esq., 
of Tort Leavenworth, and with special reference to the 
settlers in Kansas and Nebraska, and published originally 
in a Kansas City paper. It will be seen that a man can 
hold but one claim — that he must make oath that he does 
not claim for the purpose of selling to another or on specu- 
lation, and that no one can make a claim or " enter" land 
by pre-emption right who already owns three hundred and 
twenty acres: 

LAW OF PRE-EMPTION. 

Me. Editor : — I send you herewith, for publication, the following 
abridgment of the pre-emption law of 4th September, 1841, the pro- 
visions of which have been applied to the public lands in this Terri- 
tory. This I do at the suggestion of some of the actual settlers ; 
and because I believe that at the present time it is inconvenient for 
most of the pre-emptors in Kansas to peruse that law as readily 
and frequently as they might desire. The act may be found in 
volume V, of the United States Statutes at large, pages 453-458. 

I. Lajsds subject to Pre-e^iptign. — By section ten of said act it is 
provided that the public lands to which the Indian title had been 
extinguished at the time of the settlement, and which had also 
been surveyed prior thereto, shall be subject to pre-emption, and 



144 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

purchase at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. 
And the act of 22d July, 1851, section twelve, the pre-emption of 
unsurveyed lands is recognized as legal. Lands of the following 
description are excepted : Such as are included in any reservation, 
by any treaty, law or proclamation of the President of the United 
States, or reserved for salines, or for other purposes ; sections six- 
teen and thirty-six in each township, they being reserved for school 
purposes (organic act of Kansas, section thirty-four) ; lands included 
within the limits of any incorporated town, or which have been 
selected as the site for a city or town ; lands actually settled and 
occupied for the purposes of trade and not agriculture ; and lands 
on which are situated any known salines or mines. 

n. The amount designated, is any number of acres not exceeding 
one hundred and sixty. 

nX Who may Pre-empt. — " Every person being the head of a family, 
or widow, or single man, over the age of twenty-one years, and being 
a citizen of the United States, or having filed his declaration of 
intention to become a citizen, as required by the naturalization 
laws." But no person shall be entitled to more than one pre- 
emptive right ; and no person who is the proprietor of three hun- 
dred and twenty acres of land in any State or Territory of the United 
States ; and no person who shall quit or abandon his residence on 
his own land to reside on the public land in the same State or Ter- 
ritory shall acquire any right of pre-emption. 

IV. The Method to Perfect the Right. — The pre-emptor must 
make a settlement on the land in person ; inhabit and improve the 
same, and erect thereon a dwelling. And when the land has been 
surveyed previous to settlement, the pre-emptor shall, within thirty 
days of the date of the settlement, file with the register of the proper 
district, a written statement describing the land settled upon, and 
declaring the intention of such person to claim the same under the 
provision of the pre-emption law. And within twelve months of 
the date of the settlement, such person shall make the requisite 
proof, affidavit and payment. When unsurveyed lands are pre- 
empted (act of 1854), notice of the specific tracts claimed, shall be 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 145 

filed with the Surveyor-General, within three months after the sur- 
vey has been made in the field. And when two or more persons 
shall have settled on the same quarter-section, the right of pre- 
emption shall be in him or her who made the first settlement ; and 
questions arising between different settlers shall be decided by the 
register and receiver of the district within which the land is situ- 
ated, subject to an appeal and revision by the Secretary of the 
Treasury of the United States. 

And the settler must make oath before the receiver or register 
that he or she has never had the benefit of any right of the pre-emption 
act ; that he or she is not the owner of three hundred and twenty acres 
of land in any State or Territory of the United States, nor hath he 
or she settled upon and improved said land to sell the same on 
speculation, but in good faith to appropriate to his or her own 
exclusive use or benefit ; and that he or she has not directly or indi- 
rectly made any agreement or contract, in any way or manner, with 
any person or persons whatsoever, by which the title which he or 
she might acquire from the Government of the United States should 
enure in whole or in part to the benefit of any person except him- 
self or herself; and if any person taking such oath shall swear 
falsely in the premises, he or she shall be subject to all the pains 
and penalties of perjury and shall forfeit the money which he or 
she may have paid for such land, and all the right and title to the 
same ; and any grant or conveyance which he or she may have 
made, except in the hands of bona fide purchasers for a valuable 
consideration, shall be null and void. 

Proof of the requisite settlement and improvement shall be made 
by the pre-emptor to the satisfaction of the register and receiver, in 
the district in which the lands so claimed lie, who shall each be 
entitled to receive fifty cents from each applicant for his services 
rendered as aforesaid ; and all assignment's and transfers of the 
right hereby secured prior to the issuing of the patent, shall be 
null and void. 

In the above I have sought to give all the material parts of the 
pre-emption act in as condensed and clear a form as practicable ; 
13 



146 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

trusting it may be of service to those who wish to avail themselves 
of the beneficent provisions of that law. 

The following letter, from the Comraissioner of the land- 
office, may also be of service to settlers. It originally 
appeared in the National Era : 

GENERAL LAND-OFFICE. 

October 13, 1854. 
Sm : — In reply to the inquiries in yours of the 10th instant, in 
relation to the "rights of settlers in Kansas," I have to state : 

1. That a " squatter" will not be allowed to take more than one 
hundred and sixty acres by pre-emption. 

2. That the " terms of payment" will be one dollar and twenty- 
five cents per acre, at any time after the survey, and before the com- 
mencement of the public sale, including the land settled. 

3. The " putting steam saw or grist mills in operation on mill 
sites " will not give a preference right. 

4. Payment and entry can be made after survey, and before pub- 
lic sale. 

5. The purchase money can not be paid a portion at one time and 
a portion at another ; nor can the pre-emptor sell his right, and the 
purchaser stand in his place. 

6. The requisites to a pre-emption will be perceived from the accom- 
panying copy of a circular from this ofi&ce. 

7. Information with regard to lands not subject to pre-emption 
may be obtained from this office. 

8. Settlement rights before the survey, will take the precedence 
of school claims. 

I would take occasion to remark, that none of the lands in this 
Territory and Nebraska, which were ceded by the Delawares, lowas, and 
Weas, by treaties in May last, are subject to pre-emption, with the exception 
of the ''outlet,'^ within the Delaware cession. The lands thus ceded 
(with the exception mentioned) are to be offered at auction, to be sold 
for the benefit of the Indians. 

The " outlet " referred to is subject to pre-emption, becaxise it is 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 147 

excepted from the lands to be thus sold, having been ceded for the spe- 
cific sum of ten thousand dollars. 

Respectfully, John Wilson, Commissioner. 

But tlie entire process of " squatting," "claiming," and 
settling, is not made entirely clear by this act, alone, and, 
therefore, some additional facts will be stated. The object 
of the pre-emption law should be first understood. For- 
merly, the " squatter " on the public lands had no protec- 
tion. He might occupy a tract of public land and make 
upon it improvements, and then, as the public lands were 
sold at auction, on the day of sale, some one might overbid 
him, and take his and land improvements, without any 
means of redress on his part, unless he chose to use his rifle, 
as settlers sometimes did. The pre-emption law protects 
the actual settler in his claim to one hundred and sixty 
acres, and allows him to pay for it within twelve months 
from the time of settlement (if surveyed land), at one dollar 
and twenty- five cents per acre — beyond this, the Govern- 
ment extends no protection. But it is plainly a matter of 
indifference to the Government how much land a man pur- 
chases on the day of public sale, or where it is located, 
provided no individual makes objection. If a person, there- 
fore, should locate himself upon ten thousand acres, more 
or less, in Kansas, and no other person should object, or 
interfere with his claim, and if on the day of public sale, 
after the survey, no one should bid against him, he would 
obtain it all at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. 
He has no legal security to more than one hundred and sixty 
acres ; but then if all people are willing that he should thus 



148 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

hold ten thousand acres, the Government does not ohject to 
sell that quantity on the day of sale. 

I have received letters inquiring, if a man should make 
a claim, and leave it to go for his family, whether it would 
he secure. There is no legal security, except to the actual 
settler, residhig on the claim. But, then, if no one inter- 
feres or claims it in his absence, of course all is safe. Few 
men will dare "jump a claim," where it is known that there 
is an honest intention to settle thereon; for "squatter'^ 
public sentiment is strongly against such proceedings. A 
somewhat amusing incident, illustrating these matters, 
occurred at the New England settlement. A Missourian 
had made a claim there, and subsequently abandoned it, so 
that, by "squatter law," it was forfeited. A New England 
man then took it, and dug a well upon it, without, however, 
erecting any dwelling. Then the Missourian came back and 
resumed his claim, on the ground that the " Yankee" had no 
•dwelling, and was not residing there ; that the man who 
first put up his dwelling was entitled to a claim, and that 
he had the timber all ready for his house. The Missourian 
took his team and started for his timber, and when he 
returned with his house, the Yankee had moved a tent upon 
the claim — had erected his dwelling — and the Missourian 
was non-plused. Squatters make such regulations concern- 
ing these matters as please themselves. They may agree 
that they will allow each other to "claim" more than one 
hundred and sixty acres, and protect each other against 
intruders. They may agree that a man may have a certain 
time in which to bring on his family, and during that time, 



JOUKNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 149 

those who remain on the ground will protect his claim. So 
a man may make a claim, and hire some one to watch and 
protect it for him in his absence, and as has been stated, 
few will interfere with an honest claim ; but in all this, 
there are no rights acquired which the Government will 
protect, except where an actual settler complies with the 
conditions of the law. 

A " claim " is made by measuring off, as near as may be, 
one hundred and sixty acres, and by placing upon it a foun- 
dation of a dwelling, generally, four or eight logs, laid up as 
the beginning of a cabin ; sometimes a line of stones is laid 
around a foundation ; sometimes a pile of stones is laid up ; 
and sometimes a mere stake is set up with the claimant's 
name thereon. All these methods are merely by sufferance, 
or agreement, among the squatters themselves. As the 
lines of the Government survey will not correspond with 
those of the claims, the claimants agree that they will 
mutually convey to each other, so that each shall obtain, as 
nearly as possible, his own. 

Such rules of a Squatter Association, are here subjoined. 

Whereas, the laws of the United States confer upon citizens the 
privilege of holding land by pre-emption right ; and Tfhereas the 
Kansas valley, in part, is now open for such settlement, or location 
of claims ; and whereas we, the people of this convention, have, and 
are about to select homes in this Terriiory, and in order to protect 
the public good, and secure equal justice to all, we solemnly agree 
and bind ourselves to be governed by the following Ordinances : 

FmsT. We recognize the right of every citizen of the United 
States, of lawful age, or who may be the head of a family, to select, 
mark, and claim, two hundred and forty acres of Land, viz : one 



160 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

hundred and sixty acres of prairie land, and eighty acres of timber 
land — and who shall, within sixty days after the treaty is ratified, 
proceed to erect thereon a cabin, or such other improvements as he 
may deem best, and shall, within sixty days after the ratification 
of the treaty, enter thereon as a resident. 

Second. A claim, thus made and registered, shall be good sixty 
days from the ratification of the treaty, at which time the claimant, 
if the head of a family, shall move upon and make his home, on 
either the prairie or timber land, which shall make them both good, 
and shall be regarded so by the settlers. Single persons, or females, 
making claims, shall be entitled to hold them by becoming residents 
of the Territory, whether upon their claims or otherwise. Any 
person making a claim, as above, shall be entitled to a day addi- 
tional, for every five miles they have to travel to reach their fami- 
lies. 

Thied. No person shall hold more than one claim, directly or 
indirectly. 

Fourth. No one shall be allowed to enter upon any previously 
made claim. 

Fifth. All persons failing to commence improving, or entering 
thereon, within the time specified, shall forfeit the same, and it 
shall be lawful for any other citizen to enter thereon. 

Sixth. Each claimant shall, at all reasonable times, hold him- 
self in readiness to point out the extent of his claim, to any person 
who may wish to ascertain that fact. 

Seventh. It shall be the duty of the Register to put every appli- 
cant upon proof, oath, or afi&rmation, that the claim oflfered for 
registry is free from the claim of any other person. 

Eighth. Every application for registry, shall be made in the 
following form, viz : "1 apply for certificate of registry for a claim 
selected and marked on the — day of — 185 , lying and being in 

containing one hundred and sixty acres prairie land, and 

eighty acres of timber land, and declare upon honor, that the said 
claim was selected and marked on the — day of — and that I am 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 151 

claiming but the one in my own right, and that it vms not claimed 
by any other person, or selected ;" to be signed by the applicant. 
Any person failing to make this certificate shall not be entitled to 
register. 

Ninth. We agree, on the survey of the Territory, to mutually 
deed and re-deed to each other, so as to leave the land, as near as 
possible, as claimed. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

INDIAN LANDS AND RESERVATIONS. 

The Indian lands now form but an inconsiderable portion 
of the Territory in quantity, but they embrace some of the 
most desirable parts of the country, and in particular, a 
large proportion of the timber on the Kansas river, and on 
the mouths of its tributaries. The disadvantages of the 
present arrangement are such, that some modification of 
these treaties, or the purchase of these lands entire, will 
soon be demanded at the hands of the Government. 

In fact, we consider it impossible that these lands should 
long be held by the Indian tribes, as they now are. Xeces- 
sity will compel a change — we only hope that it will be 
wisely and justly made. 

At present, the Wyandots have six square miles at the 
mouth of the Kansas, and between that river and the "SUs- 
souri ; and on this tract is the only good town site, at the 
mouth of tbe Kansas, that is not in slave territory. 

Then, on the north side of the Kansas, the Delawares 
have reserved a tract extending west from the Wyandots, 
forty miles along the river, and ten miles wide. The value 
of this reservation, and its importance to the country, will 
be seen when it is considered that it includes all the bottom 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 153 

and timber on the Kansas, and on all its tributaries for ten 
miles back, on the north side of the Kansas. 

West of this Delaware reservation, there is next an open- 
ing of thirteen miles, between it and the lands of the 
Pottawatomies. Then, west of this, is the Pottawatomie 
tract, thirty miles long, and fourteen miles wide, on the 
north side of the Kansas, and four miles wide upon the 
south side. All west and north of this is open for settle- 
ment. On the south side of the Kansas, the Shawnee 
reservation begins, about four miles from the Missouri, and 
runs westward forty miles, and ten miles wide. For eighty 
miles then from the mouth of the Kansas, the bottom lands 
and the timber on the Kansas and its tributaries back for 
ten miles, are in the hands of the Indians. 

It is supposed, however, that the Pottawatomies are now 
ready to sell, and that a treaty will be concluded the present 
autumn. Such a treaty would be of immense importance to 
the Territory. ' The Kansas, or Kaws, have a small tract in 
the neighborhood of Council Grove, which, it is said, will 
soon be ceded, and that all or nearly all the southeastern 
district will be open for settlement during the coming winter. 
We have no official information on these points, but well 
known circumstances would seem to indicate the truth of 
the statements. 

The Osages and Ottawas, the Sacs and Kansas, have some 
reservations on the head waters of the Osage and Neosho 
rivers, and embracing some of the finest bottom lands and 
timber on these streams. 

The lowas have also some inconsiderable reservations in 
the northern district of Kansas. There is some dispute in 



154 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

regard to tlie lands lately ceded by the Delawares. The 
treaty was formed, it would seem, with the intention of 
excluding the right of pre-emption, and of bringing the 
lands into market, at a public sale, unshackled by " squatter" 
claims. The Attorney-General has decided, that this is the 
meaning of the treaty ; that the lands are not subject to 
pre-emption, and that it is the duty of the Government to 
exclude the settlers. 

At the time of our visit, in September, it was computed 
that there were twelve hundred settlers already on these 
Delaware lands, and how the Government can induce them 
or compel them to leave, is a question not easily answered. 
It is said by those best acquainted with the subject, that 
portions of these lands would readily sell at auction for fifty 
or sixty dollars per acre, if unincumbered with claims, but 
the settlers will combine to keep them all down to Govern- 
ment price, and we see not why they will not succecd. 

Lawyers are already publishing opinions opposed to that 
of the Attorney- General, and before any final action can be 
had, the whole country will not only be claimed, but occu- 
pied. And in spite of treaties, we doubt not, it will be 
held. 

So far as the great ends of civilization and Christianity 
are concerned, the most of these Indian lands are so occupied 
by the tribes as to be useless to the world, or rather they 
are obstacles in the progress of the country. " Of this any 
candid observer will be at once convinced, by passing through 
the Territory. Among the Delawares, Shawnees and Potta- 
watomies are some whom civilization and Christianity have 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 155 

reached, but this is not true of the mass, and we fear will 
never be. 

How their Territory is, without injustice to them, to 
pass into the possession of the whites, is a question we can 
not answer, and yet we can not doubt that the transfer will 
erelong be made. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

MULES — TECUMSEH — PROSPECTING — THE NEW ENGLAND 
SETTLEMENT — A MULE CHASE. 

Before my visit to Kansas, I had held mules in very light 
esteem. I regarded them as of much lower ''caste'' than 
horses, and had associated them mainly with obstinacy and 
thistles. But I found that in Kansas, a mule was in some 
Bort a Government officer, or, at anyrate, he was in the 
employ of the Government, and drew his rations of Govern- 
ment provender, and being, for aught I could discover, on 
the same level with some other employees, who have nothing 
to recommend them, except that they are fed by the Gov- 
eiiiment, I felt a growing respect for a mule. Many of 
these, in the employ of Government, are exceedingly fine 
animals, and command high prices. They are really more 
serviceable than horses, are able to endure more hardship, 
and with less food and care, while they will also travel 
farther in a day. A Government mule must probably be 
admitted to hold a higher social rank than a common horse. 

While at the Pottawatomie Mission, one of our horses was 
taken ill, and we were unable to proceed. We were about 
thirty-five miles from the New England settlement, near the 
uouth of the Waukereusa, and two of our party concluded 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 157 

to visit that spot while our horse was recovering his strength. 
By the kindness of a merchant, trading there with the 
Indians, we were furnished with a light wagon and a mule 
whose name was John. John, when required, however, was 
at large, in a pasture which reached without a fence, from 
the Missouri river to the Eocky mountains, and it was quite 
prohlematical in what quarter of the Mississippi valley he 
might be on that particular morning. 

He was found, however, captured by guile, and brought 
in about 1 1 o'clock, and we started across the prairie. John 
was really a noble road animal. With almost no perceptible 
effort, with no appearance of fatigue he swept over the plains 
at about six miles per hour. Yet John's master was not 
entirely divested of the old idea that a mule is of low 
" caste," a mere menial, for whom kindness and mercy would 
be as much out of place as for any other slave. I once heard 
of a man excusing himself for abusing a black horse by say- 
ing that " he was nothing but an old nigger, anyhow," and 
the owner of poor John seemed to think he was "nothing 
but a mule, anyhow," for when I inquired how he was to be 
fed during this drive of thirty-five miles, he replied that I 
might let him pick a little prairie-grass, but it wouldn't mat- 
ter if he had nothing at all. He gave us some twenty-five feet 
of rope with which to ''picket " him out at night, and I 
asked what could be done if he should entangle himself and be 
cast down? he said, " let him lie till he gets up, it won't hurt 
him." John " was but a mule, anyhow," yet he took us 
faithfully, and speedily on, about fifteen miles, to Tecum- 
seh or Stinson's, where on the south bank of the Kansas, and 
apparently in a healthy location, the town of Tecumseh has 



168 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

been laid out. The enterprise is said to be under pro-slavery 
influences, and that these have their center in one of the 
Missionaries of the Territory, and that it has been started 
as a rival of the New England town. In such a contest, it 
will probably be found necessary to enlist the energies of 
freemen, and the interests and necessities of trade will soon 
dispose of mere pro-slavery schemes. 

There is a fine farming country about it, which is still 
mostly owned by the Indians, Mr. Stinson obtains eight 
hundred acres of land, through his Indian wife and children, 
and on this tract, as we understood, Tecumseh is located. 
The whole peninsula between the "VVaukereusa and the 
Kansas, is a very beautiful region, capable of supporting a 
dense population, from its agricultural resources alone; 
but in addition to this, it will probably be covered with 
manufacturing establishments, on account of its mineral 
treasures, especially iron and coal. There seems nothing 
to prevent this from becoming an eminently populous and 
prosperous region. 

Just beyond Tecumseh we met a wagon, in which were 
five men, beside the driver, seated flat on the bottom boards. 
They did not appear to be a "moving" party, having no 
household efi"ects with them, and we were curious to know 
the object of such a company abroad on the prairie. We 
found that they were from Illinois ; that the five had hired 
the team as a stage-coach, or rather perhaps private carriage, 
and were out "prospecting" through Kansas. We after- 
ward found a similar party who had camped out on the 
prairie, and whose driver, having drank himself drunk, 
had lost his horses in the night, and in the morning the 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 159 

whole party found themselves ''hecalmed^^ on the prairie- 
ocean, and not a sail in sight. Having missed what is 
called Big Spring, and where we were directed to slake the 
thirst of John, and anxious to comfort the poor animal, we 
halted at a log-cahin, and made known our wants. The 
woman was anxious to aid us, and there was a spring near 
by, but she had no pail, or "bucket," or vessel which would 
answer the purpose. At last she bethought herself of her 
large brass kettle, and with that we managed to ''water" 
the thirsty John. 

A few miles beyond, we reached the house of a friend, 
whose " Letters from Kansas" have attracted some attention 
through the papers. We called, and found only his lady at 
home. She was from Ohio, and had been accustomed to 
the comforts and refinements of eastern life. Amid the very 
manifest lack of many things which we are accustomed to 
class among necessaries, I expected to find her somewhat 
dispirited. Far otherwise. She expressed herself as '' per- 
fectly delighted." I looked around, curious to know how 
many of what we call comforts and necessaries, might be 
dispensed with, and still leave one "perfectly delighted." 
I found that it was not necessary to happiness that a house 
should have a floor, or any door, or a window, or even a 
roof, for our friend's house had none of these, usually con- 
sidered very convenient, if not necessary appendages to a 
dwelling. Some poles were laid across the upright walls 
at one corner, on these prairie-grass was laid, and under 
this canopy was the bed. Under another similar canopy 
stood a chest of drawers and household utensils. Here then 
was the house of a Kansas pioneer, where a woman, fresh 



160 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

from the comforts and luxuries of cultivated life, cheerfully 
and heroically adapted herself to circumstances, and aided 
with a strong heart, to lay the foundations of their domestic 
kingdom. She could invite us to stop within her walls, but 
not beneath her roof. Those who sow thus in hope, will, by 
God's blessing, reap, in the end, with joy. 

Just before sunset we reached the " Yankee settlement." 
A few tents were pitched on the high ground overlooking 
the Kansas and Waukereusa valleys, others were scattered 
over the level bottoms below, but not a dwelling beside was 
to be seen. It was a city of tents alone. We were cordially 
received by the intelligent and active agent, Dr. Eobinson, 
from whom we learned, with much satisfaction, the plans 
and expectations of the Company. This town, where at this 
time (November 16), there are already six hundred heads 
of families, is beautifully situated on the peninsula formed 
by the junction of the Waukereusa with the Kansas. At 
the point of confluence the ground is low, and for some dis- 
tance back it is a level bottom. It then rises to a second 
terrace, which, at the site of the town, runs quite up to the 
Kansas' bank. On this it is expected that the business part 
of the town will be located. Above, on the high, broad 
plateau, is the site for dwellings and public buildings. It 
would be difficult to find another spot combining a greater 
variety of attractive features than this. It is vain to de- 
scribe what it was, or now is, for before these sheets can be 
printed it will have made many onward steps. Capital, 
skill, and eastern enterprise and industry, will build there, 
in a few months, a large town, with most of the comforts 
and advantages of older communities. A church has lately 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 161 

been organized, schools are in progress, a newspaper is 
printed there, and nearly a thousand souls are already col- 
lected, and a college even is now in prospect. 

We had a comfortable night's rest in Dr. Eobinson's tent, 
and in the morning were introduced to the only "boarding 
house on the hill." Two very intelligent ladies, from Mas- 
sachusetts, had united their forces and interests, and had 
taken "boarders." In the open air, on some logs of wood, 
two rough boards were laid across for a table, and on wash 
tubs, and kegs, and blocks, they and their boarders were 
seated round it. This was the first boarding-house in the 
new city of Lawrence. All were cheerful, hopeful and full 
of energy, and the scene reminded me of Plymouth Eock. 
Would that there might be found there the same depth of 
piety, the same sublimity of faith and loftiness of aim ! 

We had "picketed out" John over night, and in the morn- 
ing he was missing, having pulled up his stake and decamped. 
We took a hasty look over the prairie from the eminence, 
but he could not be descried. Dr. Eobinson's horse, a large 
and powerful animal, was saddled by his tent, and he urged 
me to take him and go in search. I soon heard of John, 
who, at a distance of some two miles, was making his way 
homeward, as was said, "at a sweeping trot." By hard 
riding, I came at length in sight, and here his speed and 
sagacity were at once made manifest. I supposed that a 
horse, of course, could overtake a mule; but with the full 
speed of the horse, I could barely come up with him, and 
then was entirely unable to seize his rope, which he was 
trailing. Once I headed him, but when I wheeled, he passed 
me by a skillful dodge, and went straight on. We were 
14 



162 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

now some four miles away, and the prospect of capture was 
small. I changed my plan, and took a wide sweep out into 
the prairie. John was evidently gulled by this stratagem ; 
he halted and began to feed. I came into the road far 
ahead, and gathering to my aid three men, who were at a 
cabin, we held a council. John's suspicions were again 
aroused, and he was once more moving homeward. Two of 
the men took a long rope, and stretching it across the road, 
let it rest on the ground, while one stood at each end, ready 
to jerk it up and catch him, as he passed between them. 
On he came, apparently unconscious, but just as we thought 
him safe, he fathomed the scheme, and slipped skillfully 
round the rope; but luckily, as he trailed his own ''lariat'' 
past, it came within reach and was seized. But John could 
easily tow one man, and forward still he went, pressing 
toward home. He was gaining in speed, so that the man 
could scarcely keep his feet, when another also seized the 
rope ; but still the mule went on. At last, after a doubtful 
struggle, by a change in the line of draught, they took a 
sidewise purchase on his neck, and slowly rounded him in. 
He submitted himself with all meekness, evidently consider- 
ing that he was a lawful prey. Taking a turn of the 
"lariat" round the horn of the saddle, I started the Doctor's 
powerful gray, expecting that the mule would quietly follow. 
The "lariat" round his neck was about twenty-five feet long, 
and the moment the "slack'' was taken up, it was found 
that John had cast anchor. When he found that the direc- 
tion I had taken was not homeward, he became suddenly 
stiff and motionless, as if smitten with catalepsy. It now 
became doubtful which of several possible things would 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 163 

actually occur ; whether the strength of my "gallant gray*' 
would fail, or the saddle girths would give way, or the mule's 
neck would be broken, or his obstinacy would be overcome. 
The chances for each were about equal, and my resolution 
having been a little strengthened by the exciting chase, 
I urged gray sharply forward. I shall never forget the 
expression of John's countenance and general aspect, when 
he " felt the halter draw." He seemed not to be angry or 
revengeful, but closing his eyes, as if perfectly resigned, and 
forgiving his enemies, he would meet his fate in a manner 
becoming a mule. Gray was a very tall and very powerful 
animal, and accustomed to a long and steady pull. Slowly 
John seemed to be "drawn out," until it was nearly a 
straight line from the top of his nose to the root of his tail, 
yet his feet were all immovable. He seemed "planted out" 
in the prairie. But the great hight of the horse put him 
at great disadvantage, for the line of draught was so high, 
that it raised bim gradually from his fore-feet, and at last, 
with a forward leap, like a kangaroo, he started. Gray, 
proud of his victory, put himself into a gallop, and John, 
with his obstinacy dreadfully stretched, if not entirely 
broken, was hastened back to the camp. 

When returning, we we o obliged to trust entirely to the 
sagacity of this animal, having lost our way in the prairie. 
Left to himself, he turned off at right angles to the road 
we were following, and taking the open prairie, pursued 
what proved to be an air-line route to the Mission. 



CHAPTER XXIIL 

THE MOUNDS — AN INDIAN MURDERER — INTERESTING 
CUSTOM. 

The mounds of the prairies are among the most interest- 
ing features in the scene, and probably no other objects in 
the Mississippi valley have given rise to so many conjectures 
as they. The large mounds of Kansas present the appear- 
ance of artificial structures, and especially when seen from 
a distance, rising out of the plain like immense flattened 
cones. Indeed, the general outline of the prairie, when seen 
against the sky, as well as that of the bolder bluffs and 
mounds, seems as if shaped by human art, such is the regu- 
larity of the form. This, however, is especially true of the 
mounds. They are so perfectly rounded, that it seems 
impossible that the result should have been produced by any 
natural phenomena. Many of the smaller mound-shaped 
structures of the west have, doubtless, been reared or mod- 
eled by the hand of man, but it seems strange that any one 
should mistake such elevations as the large mounds of 
Kansas for artificial structures. A single glance at their 
formation, shows it to be identical with that of the neigh- 
boring elevations ; the rock strata lying as regularly in them 
as in any of the bluffs of the river. That they have been 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 165 

upheaved there by the hand of God and not man, is a fact 
beyond all question. 

Still, some of them at least, stand precisely where it would 
seem they might have been wanted, in certain styles of 
defense or warfare, and even in modern war, a battery placed 
on their tops would command the whole country, on every 
side, within range of the guns, while to storm such a battery 
would be a serious work. I see no objection to the idea 
that they may have been used for military or religious pur- 
poses, and were partially shaped for such purpose by the 
labor of man. The regularity of their outline seems to 
favor this opinion, though it is by no means a necessary 
inference. Doubtless, in our attempts to " re-people the 
past," we may believe that these mounds have been used for 
posts of military observation, or for the kindling of beacon 
fires, or for "high places" of worship and sacrifice, or even 
under such heavens, for astronomical observations. For all 
such purposes, they are certainly suitable, and for such uses, 
or even for a pleasure resort in these level regions, they 
may have had their natural inequalities smoothed away. 
But they belong to the hills, and not to the works of man ; 
and we hope that human folly will never dig them down, or 
deface them in any way. "Within sight of the Mission, there 
are two such mounds, and a story was related to us, in con- 
nection with one of them, interesting in itself, and illustrat- 
ing a singular custom of the Indians. 

A few years since, at the base of this mound, a chief 
resided, whose young daughter was a girl of uncommon 
beauty, and this beauty was but the external manifestation 
of a pure and noble spirit. As a matter of course she had 



166 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

many admirers among the young braves of her nation. Her 
nature was above the arts of a coquette; and loving one 
among them all, and only one, she hesitated not to let her 
preference be known, not only to the Young Eagle who had 
won her heart, but also to those whose suit she had rejected. 
Among the rejected suitors one alone so laid it to heart as 
to desire revenge. He, the Prowling Wolf, was filled with, 
rage, and took little pains to conceal his enmity, though he 
manifested no desire for open violence. Both these young 
men were brave, both skillful in the use of weapons, which 
far away on the buffalo plains had sometimes been used in 
battle ; but while Young Eagle was noble, generous in spirit, 
and swayed by such high impulses as a young savage may 
feel, the Wolf was reserved, dark and sullen ; and his 
naturally lowering brow seemed, after the maiden had 
refused him, to settle into an habitual scowl. The friends 
of the Young Eagle feared for his safety. He, however, 
was too happy in the smiles of his chosen bride to trouble 
himself concerning the enmity of another, especially when 
he knew himself to be his equal both in strength and skill. 
The Indian customs did not permit the young couple to 
be much alone with each other, but they sometimes contrived 
to meet at twilight on the top of this mound, and spend 
there together a happy hour. Young Eagle was a favorite 
with his tribe, except among the kinsmen of the Wolf ; and 
among the whites too, he had made many friends, one of 
whom, who had hunted much with the Eagle, had given him 
a Colt's revolver, the only one owned in the tribe. Delighted 
with this formidable weapon, he ha,d made it a plaything 
till he became skillful in its use, and always wore it about 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 167 

him in addition to his other arms. This was a second cause 
of enmity which the Wolf laid up in his heart. He seemed 
to be revolving some dark scheme ; but his secret, if he had 
one, was confided to no one. Bitter words sometimes were 
passed between the young warriors, but nothing more ; yet 
it was felt that at any time a sudden rousing of passion 
might end in bloodshed. 

One summer evening, just as the moon was up, Young 
Eagle sought the top of the mound for the purpose of meeting 
his future bride, for their marriage was agreed upon, and 
the appointed day was near. One side of this mound is 
naked rock, which for thirty feet or more is almost perpen- 
dicular. Just on the edge of this precipice is a footpath, 
and by it a large flat sandstone rock forms a convenient seat 
for those who would survey the valley, while a few low 
bushes are scattered over a part of the crest of the mound. 
On this rock Young Eagle sat him down to await the maiden's 
coming. In a few moments the bushes rustled near him, 
and rising, as he thought, to meet her, a tomahawk flashed 
by his head, and the next instant he was in the arms of a 
strong man and forced to the brink of the precipice. The 
eyes of the two met in the moonlight, and each knew then 
that the struggle was for life. Pinioned as his arms were 
by the other's grasp, the Eagle frustrated the first efi"ort of 
his foe, and then a desperate wrestle, a death-wrestle, 
followed, in which each was thoroughly maddened. The 
grasp of the Wolf was broken, and each instantly grasping 
his adversary by the throat with the left hand, sought his 
weapon with the right — the one his knife, the other his 
revolver. In the struggle the handle of the knife of the 



168 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

Wolf had been turned in the girdle, and missing it at the 
first grasp, ere he could recover himself the revolver was at 
his breast and a bullet through his heart. One flash of 
hatred from the closing eye, and the arm of the dying 
warrior relaxed ; and as the body sank the Eagle hurled it 
over the precipice, and in his wrath fired bullet after bullet 
into the corpse as it rolled heavily down; and this not 
satisfying his revenge, he ran round and down the side of 
the mound, and tore ofi" the scalp of his foe. 

The young girl, who was ascending the mound to meet 
her lover, heard these successive shots, and knowing well 
from what source such rapid discharges alone could come, 
hastened on, and came just in season to see the Eagle 
scalping his victim. She soon brought her family to the 
spot, and every circumstance of the transaction showed at 
once the dangerous position in which the Eagle was placed. 
There was no witness of the combat, no means whatever of 
showing that he had smitten the Wolf in self-defense. The 
number of ball-holes in the body, and the tearing olF of the 
scalp, all seemed to bear evidence against him, and he knew 
that the friends of the Wolf would take advantage of every 
circumstance in order to procure his death as a murderer. 
He felt that death was certain if he submitted himself for 
trial, and he therefore determined to defend himself as best 
he might, and await the result, as his only chance for life. 

These Indians observe the law that was established among 
oriental nations long before the time of Moses, by which the 
shedding of blood may be rightfully avenged by the nearest 
kinsman of the slain, while the murderer, in this respect 
an outlaw, will of course defend himself as best he may. 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 169 

At the same time the friends of the deceased are at liberty 
to accept a ransom for the life of their friend, and often — 
if for a time the murderer escapes the blow of the avenger 
of blood — a compromise is effected, and the affair is settled. 
In the meantime the avenger of blood assumes the office at 
the risk of his own life, for if he falls, retribution is not 
demanded for him, but the next of kin takes up the original 
demand only for the blood of the first one slain. 

The Young Eagle at once took his resolution, sustained 
by the advice of his friends. Completely armed he took 
possession of the top of the mound, which was so shaped that 
while he was himself concealed, no one could approach him 
by day without being exposed to his fire — and he had two 
devoted and skillful allies, which, together with his position, 
rendered him far more than a match for his single adver- 
sary, the avenger of blood — the brother of the Wolf. These 
allies were his bride and a large sagacious hound which had 
long been his hunting companion, and had guarded him 
many a night when camping on the prairies. The girl had 
in her veins the blood of Indian heroes, and she quailed not. 
She demanded with lofty enthusiasm to be made his wife, 
and then, acquainted with every stratagem of savage war, and 
with every faculty sharpened by affection, and her husband's 
danger, she watched, and warned, and shielded him with 
every art that the roused spirit could suggest, and which 
could be safely practiced. 

In vain the brother of the Wolf surveyed from afar this 

fortress of the Eagle. It was evident that long before he 

could reach a point from which the young warrior could be 

seen, he would himself be within the range of his rifle 

15 



170 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

without a cover of any kind. Often, by night, he attempted 
to ascend the mound, hut scarcely could he put his foot upon 
its base before the dog of the Eagle would give his master 
the alarm, and then to approach would be only to go to his 
death. It was no mystery how the Eagle was supplied with 
food, for the young wife showed no solicitude, and yet no 
one saw her form, or heard her footsteps on the mound. 

The brother of the Wolf knew well that the Eagle's wife 
must supply him with food, and determined, if possible, to 
entrap him. He therefore studied and imitated her gait, he 
obtained opportunities of observing her dress, and when he 
felt that he was perfect in his part, he arrayed himself one 
evening in a dress the exact counterpart of hers, with knife 
and tomahawk concealed beneath, and bearing some food 
openly before him, took, just at twilight, the common path 
up the mound, where he knew the mere sound of footsteps 
would be less likely to alarm the dog or his master, and he 
hoped to approach so near without suspicion, that he might, 
by a sudden rush, secure his victim. His plan was skill- 
fully executed. He imitated well the light step of Eagle's 
wife; the approaching form was one familiar to the dog, and 
he had not caught the scent. He wagged his tail as he 
lay with his eye fixed as if he would soon bound up and 
forward with a welcome. The Eagle addressed his supposed 
wife in gentle tones and bade her hasten. The blood avenger 
was within ten feet of his intended victim, and thought that 
all was gained, when the dog, with one yell and one bound, 
threw himself upon him and bore him to the earth, with his 
jaws grappled to his throat. Entangled by the female dress 
and throttled by the hound, he could not draw his knife, and 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 171 

the Eagle, who comprehended the scene at a glance, deprived 
him of his weapons, while held by his dog, and then pinioned 
his arms. " Now go to your friends," said the young war- 
rior, " I crave not your blood. Your brother sought my life, 
on this very spot, and I slew him, but only to save my own. 
But stay; you shall go home as a warrior should. You 
have shown some skill in this." He cut the pinions from 
his arms and gave him back his weapons. They were taken 
in silence and the humbled, yet grateful foe withdrew. 

Three months thus had passed away, and negotiations 
were opened for a ransom. The friends in such a case agree 
first to treat, but do not engage to accept what may be offered 
for life. This is to be decided only on a spot appointed for 
the ceremony, and with the shedder of blood unarmed, and 
completely in their power, and bound by the law, to make 
no resistance. When the parties are present, and the pro- 
posed ransom is offered, it is considered by the friends of 
the slain man, and if accepted, all is settled ; but if not they 
have the right to slay the murderer on the spot, without 
resistance from him or from his friends. 

In this case the friends of the Wolf agreed to consider a 
ransom, and Young Eagle consented to abide the issue, he 
and his friends hoping that the sparing of the brother's life 
might have some influence in the decision, and beside it 
was now generally believed in the tribe that the Wolf had 
been the aggressor. 

At the day appointed the parties met in an open space 
with hundreds to witness the scene around. The Eagle, 
all unarmed, was first seated on the ground, then by his side 



172 JOUENEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

was laid down a large knife with which he was to be slain, 
if the ransom was not accepted. By his side sat his wife, 
her hand clasped in his, while the eyes even of old men were 
dim with tears. Over against them, and so near that the 
fatal knife could be easily seized, stood the family of the 
slain Wolf, the father at the head, by whom the question of 
life or death was to be settled. He seemed deeply moved, 
and sad, rather than revengeful. A red blanket was now 
produced and spread upon the ground. It signified that 
blood had been shed which was not yet washed away, the 
crimson stain remaining. Next a blanket all of blue was 
spread over the red one. It expressed the hope that the 
blood might be washed out in heaven and remembered no 
more, and last, a blanket purely white was spread over all, 
significant of a desire that nowhere on earth or in heaven a 
stain of the blood should remain, and that everywhere, and 
by all, it should be forgiven and forgotten. 

These blankets, thus spread out, were to receive the ran- 
som. The friends of Eagle brought goods of various kinds 
and piled them high before the father of the slain. He con- 
sidered them a moment in silence and then turned his eye 
to the fatal knife. The wife of the Eagle threw her arms 
around her husband's neck, and turned her eyes imploringly 
full on the old man's face, without a word. He had stretched 
his hand toward the knife when he met that look. He 
paused; his fingers moved convulsively, but they did not 
grasp the handle. His lips quivered, and then a tear was 
in his eye. "Father," said the brother, "he spared my 
life." The old man turned away. " I accept the ransom," 



JOURNEY THHOUGH KANSAS. 173 

he said, " the blood of my son is washed away. I see no 
stain now on the hand of the Eagle, and he shall be in the 
place of my son. 

The feud was completely healed, xill were at last con- 
vinced that the Eagle was not a murderer ; the ransom itself 
was presented to his wife as a gift, and he and the "avenger 
of blood" lived afterward as friends and brothers. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

AN INTERESTING FAMILY — HUNTING ON THE PLAINS AND 
AMONG THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS — ^AYINTER ADVENTURES 
ON THE PRAIRIES. 

In our journey homeward, from Council Grove, we found 
ourselves, one evening at twilight, in sight of a solitary log- 
cabin. It was new, and had a most substantial look, quite 
superior to the common " shanty." For this reason, and one 
much stronger still, viz : that there was not another dwell- 
ing nearer than twelve miles, we requested the privilege of 
stopping for the night. The proprietor, a hearty, robust- 
looking man, with an open frank countenance, and prompt, 
decided air, gave us to understand that he intended his es- 
tablishment for the accommodation of travelers, and we at 
once felt very much at ease "in our inn." The house was 
in the most approved style of Kansas architecture, having 
two rooms on the floor and an open passage between. Back 
of the house we saw a brightly-blazing fire, and as the even- 
ing was somewhat cool, we sat down in its cheerful glow. 
The spot proved to be the kitchen. A fireplace had been 
formed by piling the turf of the prairie in a semicircle of 
about eight feet in diameter, and within this, shielded thus 
partly from the wind, was a huge wood fire, that sent its red 



JOUENEY THROUGH KANSAS. 175 

glare far over the prairie. Eougli boards laid upon poles 
formed a partial covering, and a range of shelves held the 
common utensils for cooking. Amid this rudeness, however, 
there were some things that appeared a little out of place in 
Kansas, judging from what we had already seen, a few fea- 
tures or indications of a more civilized life than wc had 
latterly met, especially in the cooking department, and we 
began to be curious to know something of our host. There 
were no females about the house. A slender, pale-faced, 
young man, was busy over the fire with different dishes for 
the supper. 

We had, during the afternoon, captured a prairie-hen, 
which we desired for supper, and one of our number sat down 
to pick and dress it : our host coming up at the time, observed 
that we seemed not to understand those birds, and taking it 
himself, he almost in an instant stripped off its skin, in- 
stead of picking off its feathers, and in a moment more the 
bird was ready for cooking 

Some fresh fish were produced, just caught in a stream 
close at hand, and the manner in which our host gave direc- 
tion to his cook, or aided, himself, in the work, showed that 
he was quite familiar with an art so interesting to us just 
then. 

The third member of this family, was a young man, ap- 
parently about twenty-eight years old, with a fine form and 
manly features, in the garb of a common laborer, but with 
a demeanor somewhat above his style of dress. The pale- 
faced young cook was, we found, a Mormon, who having 
come thus far with a band of these " latter day saints," had 
been detained by the sickness of his wife. Here she died, 



176 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

and here he had since remained. He was an Englishman, 
and thus far this land of promise had been one of sorrow, and 
disappointment, and poverty, and these had written a history 
on his form and face. Our host, as he informed us in the 
course of the evening, was born in the northeastern part of 
New England, had left his father's house, when young, to 
indulge a desire for roving, and had spent, thus far, a rover's 
life. A portion of this life had been spent on the ocean ; a 
part in South America ; a part in Mobile and New Orleans ; 
a part in New York ; a part on the plains of Kansas and 
Nebraska, and among the Kocky mountains — and last of all, 
having been persecuted for anti-slavery sentiments in a 
town of western Missouri, he. had left in disgust, and come 
over into Kansas, determined to aid in making the Terri- 
tory free. The third was a young Virginian, who also tired 
of home, among other wanderings, had spent five years with 
the Indians, on the western plains and among the Eocky 
mountains. To complete the group, there walked in un- 
der our shed, a tall six-footer from the Emerald isle — 
Patrick, of course, by name. His toes had walked out of 
the ends of his shoes; his " pants" were cut across at the 
knees ; he had neither coat nor vest, but, instead, an Indian 
blanket thrown over his shoulders, and a short pipe just 
cleared the end of his nose. England and Ireland, New 
England, Virginia, and Ohio, were all represented in that 
small company — a fit representation of the future mingled 
population of Kansas. Patrick explained his dilapidated 
state, by informing us that he and his brother had been out 
some weeks "prospecting," and that finally, near this point, 
each had located a claim, and Kansas was to be their future 



JOURNEY TIIROUGn KANSAS. 177 

home. He was now on his way to St. Louis, where Judy 
and the children were. 

Such was the interesting company that had met in the 
kitchen of this Kansas hoteh On the ends of the poles over 
head the chickens of our host were roosting — two large dogs 
stood by the fire, except when they ran oiF to bark at each 
new sound in the prairie, and a pet horse would occasionally 
come and stick his nose in the flour and salt dish, which 
the cook was using for supper. 

After supper was over (which was really well served, 
through skill acquired by our host in former years), we sat 
down to listen to the various talk of our associates. Two 
of them had been connected with many a wild and stirring 
adventure, and from them we gained some knowledge of life 
on the buffalo plains and among the Eocky mountains. The 
Virginian had been five years among the Indians of these 
regions, and some of his recitals of incidents were exceed- 
ingly graphic and stirring. We inquired of him concerning 
the grizzly bears, and, among other things, asked him in 
regard to their size. " They grow," he said, " as large as 
the law allows. Some of them will weigh eighteen hundred, 
and if a man should see one of these critters walking up to 
him on his hind feet, and swinging his fore-paws, he would 
be apt to think he was going to the Legislatur' mighty quick. 
Even an Indian," he said, " is often terribly scared by one 
of these bears. AVe camped one evening, just at sunset, by 
the side of a small creek in the prairie, and a little beyond 
was tall prairie-grass and some small bushes. One of the 
younger Indians strayed over among these, looking for game. 
In a few moments we heard first his gun, then the war- 



178 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

whoop, then a yell which was prolonged to a continuous 
scream, then the scared Indian broke cover on a clean run, 
loping for life, and close at his heels a gTizzly bear, that 
shuffled and shook as he ran, as if he hadn't a bone in his 
body. A Frenchman seized his gun and ran to meet them, 
and fired at the bear without stopping him ; and then he too 
turned, and the two came on in double quick time, the bear 
striking and snapping at their rear. In a moment more he 
was in reach of all our guns, and we brought him to a dead 
halt. But not the poor Indian. He ran through the camp, 
giving the war-whoop at every leap, and v/ent far beyond 
into the prairie, before he could be brought up and made to 
know where he was. An old hunter," he said, '• is never 
anxious to ' scrape acquaintance ' with a grizzl}^ bear. One 
who knows them will not shoot at one from choice, except 
with at least an ounce ball, and when he feels entirely 
certain of a dead shot. The hunters are willing to give them 
a wide berth, unless they have greatly the advantage. I saw 
in the mountains," he continued, " a man whose arms and 
chest were stripped nearly bare of flesh, and who was covered 
with scars elsewhere, from a battle with one of these bears. 
He was a Frenchman, and he and a companion were hunting 
and traveling alone, and were, of course, strongly bound to 
each other. They met unexpectedly, one day, a grizzly bear, 
who at once attacked them. They both fired, and having 
only wounded the animal, they both turned and ran. After 
having gained some distance ahead, one looked back and saw 
that the bear had caught his companion, and that he was 
making desperate efi'orts to defend himself with his hunter's 
knife ; while the bear was tearing his flesh in the most 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 179 

horrid manner. His regard for liis companion overcame his 
love of life, and he resolved to aid him or die with him. 
He ran back, and as he could not wait to re-load his gun, 
he attacked the bear with his knife and hatchet. After a 
desperate conflict, in which both were dreadfully mangled, 
the bear fell partly upon one and died. For a long time 
neither was able to rise. The flesh upon the arms and 
chest and face of the one first overtaken by the bear was 
torn into strings, or stripped entirely ofi^, so that the bones lay 
bare, yet no artery was cut. The other was at length able 
to crawl on his belly to a spring at some distance, and obtain 
some water for himself and his friend. For days he crawled 
thus back and forth for water, unable to rise upon his feet ; 
and when their little stock of food was gone, they cut pieces 
from the bear and ate them raw, drinking water from the 
spring. Often, he told me, the wolves would come and eat 
on one side of the bear while we lay on the other. The one 
least hurt recovered so as to nurse his companion, whose 
frightful wounds began to heal, and in the end they were 
relieved by a party of trappers. The one I saw," said the 
Virginian, " had very little meat left on him. Better let a 
grizzly alone if you can't put an ounce ball through the 
vitals." 

This same hunter gave us some interesting facts in regard 
to hunting on the plains. He told us that buffaloes are 
hunted on horseback, with horses that are trained to the 
chase, and that love it well. Each hunter is provided with 
a lasso, or "lariat" (as we found it usually called in 
Kansas) , and a very short gun, with a barrel not more than 
from fourteen to eighteen inches long, and carrying an ounce 



180 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

ball. These horses, he said, though not large, are able to 
hold with the lasso from the horn of the saddle the most 
powerful and furious buffalo. They are so skillful, that the 
instant the lasso strikes the horns of the buffalo, they brace 
themselves away from the animal, and inclining the whole 
body strongly inward, and gradually running on a curving 
line, they soon are able to round the buffalo in, and ex- 
pose his huge side to the hunter's shot at the distance of 
a few feet only. At other times the hunter rides among the 
herd, and loading his short gun very rapidly, is able to slay 
a large number in a little time. The hunter is able to 
indicate to his horse the very animal which he wishes to 
follow, and he seldom loses him, or misses him, amid all the 
confusion of the flying herd. The elks, he said, when they 
are suddenly come upon, seem unable from fright to run 
swiftly, but rather leap up and down than run, and a 
hunter with a short gun and a fleet horse will sometimes 
shoot down four or five before they are fairly under- way, 
but when at full speed they are more fleet than the horse. 
Our host, who had for some time been engaged in the 
transportation of furs, for the Fur Company, from the Kocky 
mountains, gave us an account of some of his winter adven- 
tures in the far-western wilds. He started, one winter, he 
said, with twenty-four mules, loaded with furs, and three 
men beside himself, he having charge of the company. Their 
destination was Fort Laramie. This fort is about six hun- 
dred miles northwest of Fort Leavenworth. The snow fell 
deeper day by day, until the prairie was one trackless waste, 
through which the animals could scarcely make their way ; 
little could be procured for them to eat, and the weather 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 181 

was bitterly cold. From cold, fatigue aud want of food, the 
animals failed, one after another, and died, until when one 
morning they heard the drum-beat of Fort Laramie, there 
were only four mules alive. They started for the fort, but 
the snow was so deep that they were obliged to tread a path 
for the animals, and soon they lost all knowledge of the 
direction of the fort, and wandered helplessly about in the 
snowy waste, and at night found themselves without any 
shelter whatever, except what a large log could give them, 
breaking, a little, the sweeping blast. One of the men 
became benumbed with cold before they reached this place, 
and in spite of all efforts to rouse him and urge him on, sat 
down in the snow and died. To save him from the wolves, 
they dug a grave in a deep snow-drift, and then hurried on 
with what speed they could, beating a path as they went. 
They were soon so chilled, that as their only hope, having 
exhausted all their food, they cut the throat of a mule and 
drank the warm blood. Somewhat revived by this, they cut 
off some of the mule's flesh, made a meal of a part, and 
reserved the rest for the future. The next morning, not 
knowing where they were, nor what direction to take, they 
wandered almost despairingly on. The prairie was without 
a tree or bus'h — one limitless waste of glittering, driving 
snow. Ere night, however, guided by a kind Providence, 
they came in sight of Fort Laramie, and reached it with 
three mules and three men remaining. Such are some of 
the perils of the life of the hunter and fur-trader, and such 
are common scenes on our wild frontier. 

With such tales the evening passed away. In the mean- 
time, Patrick was becoming talkative, if not eloquent. 



182 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

Whisky had excited his brain and loosened his tongue, and 
his love of liberty and patriotism swelled to overflowing. 
Against the Pope, and slaveholders, and the Mormons, he 
was especially angry, and declared himself ready to leave 
Judy, at any time, and shoulder his musket and bring the 
Mormons into subjection to United States law. After we 
retired, he commenced a lofty oration upon the blessings of 
liberty, and the greatness of America, and I fell asleep to 
the music of Patrick's eloquence, resounding the names of 
Washington and Lafayette. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



NEBRASKA. 



After the somewhat minute descriptions wMch have heen 
given of Kansas, little need be added in order to present a 
correct idea of Nebraska. In many important features, the 
Territories so nearly resemble each other, that a picture of 
one will present also the aspect of the other. The general 
appearance of the prairie is the same in both Territories, 
and there are the same great divisions in both, presenting a 
fertile agricultural district, along the ^Missouri ; a central 
tract destitute of timber, sandy and poorly supplied with 
water ; and a mountainous region west of this, comprising the 
Black Hills and the Kocky mountains. 
, A large and fertile tract, lying between the Kansas and 
the Platte or Nebraska, is situated partly in one Territory 
and partly in the other, and the description, therefore, of 
the northern district of Kansas, on the Nemaha, Wolf creek, 
and the head waters of the Big Blue and Yermilion is also 
a description of the remainder, which lies adjacent in 
Nebraska. 

The prairies of the latter Territory are considered to be 
more " Irohen'' than those of Kansas, and the proportion of 
waste land is also greatest in Nebraska. To describe this 



184 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

Territory, in detail, ^Yould, therefore, be in the main, only a 
repetition of what has already been written concerning 
Kansas, and it will be necessary, on this account, to dwell 
only on some of the larger characteristics, which are pecu- 
liar to itself. 

Nebraska is much larger than Kansas. It reaches through 
nine degrees of latitude, from the fortieth to the forty -ninth 
parallel, having the irregular ridge of the Pwocky mountains 
for its western boundary, and the equally irregular line of the 
Missouri for its eastern frontier, until that river turns west- 
ward, near Fort Mandan. Its average breadth, therefore, 
can only be approximately stated, as about five hundred 
miles. 

Assuming this to be correct, Nebraska contains about 
three hundred thousand square miles. Its general character 
may, perhaps, be understood, by tracing eastward the par- 
allels of latitude that bound it, and observing the country 
which they inclose. We find, by this experiment, that its 
northern boundary runs eastward, north of lake Superior, 
north of the inhabited portions of Canada, and strikes the 
Atlantic at the island of New Foundland, passing through 
cold and inhospitable regions ; while its southern boundary 
runs through central Illinois, central Indiana and Ohio, and 
southern Pennsylvania, touching the ocean in the latitude 
of Philadelphia. Within these limits, are embraced New 
England and the Canadas, New York, New Jersey, Penn- 
sylvania, northern Ohio, Illinois and Indiana, and all of 
Michigan, Iowa, AYisconsin and Minesota — the most health- 
ful regions on the continent. It will require more exact 
meteorological observations than have yet been made, to 



JOUBNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 185 

form a correct opinion of the climate of Nebraska, as com- 
pared with the regions that lie east of it, between the same 
parallels. Its elevation above the sea will, of course, largely 
influence its climate, which may be still farther modified by 
local causes, such as the position, hight and direction of its 
mountain ranges. 

Western Iowa and western Minesota present, of course, 
the counterparts of the eastern portions of Nebraska, as 
they are divided only by the Missouri river. 

Nebraska may be spoken of under six general divisions. 
The first is the high and fertile plateau, or " divide," between 
the Kansas and the Nebraska. It has already been suffi- 
ciently described, and is, probably, at least for the present, 
the most attractive district in the Territory. The second 
is the valley of the Nebraska proper. The lower portion 
of this valley, for about two hundred and fifty miles, west- 
ward from the Missouri river, is well watered and fertile 
prairie. 

Up to this point there is a fair supply of timber on the 
Platte and its tributaries, and the country, except that 
it lies further north, and consequently has a colder cli- 
mate, offers about the same inducements to settlers as the 
valley of the Kansas. The climate of the latter has more 
of the " sunny south," and the winters are shorter and less 
severe. Beyond this point, westward, the comparatively 
dry and sandy plains appear, which form the pasture- 
grounds of the buffalo, elk, deer, and antelope. This lower 
portion of the Nebraska valley, and the " divide,'" mentioned 
as forming the southern district of the Territory, will first 
be occupied, both from its superior attractions, and the 
16 



186 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

greater facility ^Yitll which it can be approached. It seems 
to abound with coal, and as in Kansas, this coal is doubtless 
accompanied bj iron. 

The Nebraska river is wide and shallow, and although a 
small steamboat has, in time of high water, ascended it 
several hundred miles, it may be regarded as almost useless 
for the purposes of commerce, spreading out as it does into 
broad shallows, and divided, at times, into several streams, 
that often lose themselves in the sands. Voyagers, in de- 
scending the river, even with small boats, after following 
for days along one of these streams, will find it sinking 
away in the sands, and disappearing altogether, subjecting 
them to the labor of dragging their boat again up the stream, 
to explore another channel, perhaps with similar results. 

Two towns are already projected near the mouth of this 
stream, and in the vicinity of Council Blufi's, and around 
and back of them the country is being filled up with set- 
tlers. Doubtless the annual flood that pours into Iowa will, 
hereafter, aid also in populating the opposite shores of Ne- 
braska. The attractions of the latter are at least equal to 
those of Iowa. 

The third division is the valley of the Missouri, from the. 
valley of the Platte to the valley of the Yellow Stone. For 
this long distance, along the western bank of the Missouri, 
runs the fertile belt which has been described as about two 
hundred and fifty miles wide in Kansas and the southern 
division of Nebraska. Although it has not been fully 
explored, this belt is supposed to be narrower on the north 
of the valley of the Platte, than it is. in southern Ne- 
braska, and in Kansas. It is represented, moreover, as 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 187 

deficient in timber. These points, however, can only be 
settled by a more complete survey than has yet been 
made. It is not improbable that the supply of timber 
may be found more abundant than present impressions 
would indicate, and I am quite prepared to expect, that 
the skill and enterprise of American farmers will find 
the means of obtaining comfort and wealth in those re- 
gions, both of Kansas and Nebraska, which many are dis- 
posed to condemn as worthless. I am by no means ready 
to believe that large tracts, in either Territory, are to re- 
main desert and waste, as incapable of aflording the means 
of subsistence. It is not unlikely, that some, who represent 
portions of these regions as uninhabitable, would be even 
more ready to be discouraged at the appearance of many 
parts of New England. 

As we approach the valley of the Yellow Stone, timber 
becomes more abundant, both on the Missouri and its tribu- 
taries, and westward from this point there are dense forests 
along the streams — and in some parts, according to Gov. 
Stevens, they cover the face of the country. The fourth 
district is the valley of the Yellow Stone. This may 
ultimately prove the most desirable portion of Nebraska. 
Although it lies in a Kigh northern latitude, its sheltered 
position, between the Eocky mountains on the west and the 
Black Hills on the east, will probably secure it a moderate 
climate. It is described as presenting, not so much the 
aspect of a prairie land, as of an immense valley, walled 
in by lofty, wooded mountains, that abound in scenes of 
grandeur and of beauty. 



188 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

The Yellow Stone rises in the Eocky mountains, and 
pursues a northeasterly course, of about one thousand 
miles, to the Missouri. It has been found navigable for 
barges, more than eight hundred miles from its junction 
with the Missouri, and several of its tributaries may, in 
like manner, be ascended with boats. The Yellow Stone has 
been ascended nearly a hundred miles by steamboats, and 
it is not unlikely that it may be found navigable for small 
steamboats, for a much greater distance. Its valley is repre- 
sented, by those who have seen it, as one of the most beau- 
tiful valleys in the world — so vast in its dimensions, abound- 
ing in timber and streams of water, with a soil exceedingly 
fertile, and with scenery that charms with its loveliness 
and awes by its grandeur. The sources of the Y'ellow 
Stone are not far from those of the Columbia, and the val- 
ley of the Yellow Stone may yet have a commerce both with 
the Atlantic and Pacific slopes of the Continent. It is said, 
by hunters, that a branch of the Y^'ellow Stone, and one of 
the Columbia, head in one common spring. 

The valley of the Missouri, above the l^ellow Stone, that 
of the Maria river and the valley of the Yellow Stone itself, 
form, together, an immense region, abundantly supplied with 
streams, and springs, and timber, with fertile soil and most 
attractive scenery. This region can even now be reached 
by steamboats, for the Missouri, when not frozen, is navi- 
gable, for small steamboats, to the Great Falls, many 
hundred miles above the Yellow Stone ; and it is supposed, 
that boats built above the falls, may run up to the Eocky 
mountains. In these regions, pine, cedar and fir trees are 
said to abound, and when we consider the vast extent of 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 189 

prairie country below, it becomes a most interesting question, 
■whether a supply of this timber can not be obtained from 
the upper Missouri and its tributaries. 

It is not unlikely that this may be the case, and that 
heavy lumber establishments may erelong be built upon 
these upper waters. A writer, quoted in the Home Mis- 
sionary Journal, and whose articles appeared originally in 
the New York Tribune, speaks of Nebraska as follows : 

*' The surface of the country, from the Missouri river 
westward to the spurs of the mountains, is rolling prairie, 
but little diversified in its aspect, save by the intersection 
of its streams. The soil, for a space varying from fifty to 
one hundred miles west pf the Missouri river and the State 
line, is nearly identical with that of Iowa and Missouri. 
The highlands are open prairies, covered with grasses ; the 
river-bottom, a deep, rich loam, shaded by dense forests. 
From this first district, to about the mouth of Z' Eau qui 
Court (Eunning Water river), it is one boundless expanse 
of rolling prairie, so largely intermixed with sand as to 
be almost unfit for ordinary agricultural purposes. The 
prairies are, however, carpeted with succulent grasses, afford- 
ing an inexhaustible supply for herds of cattle and sheep. 

** The third district is a formation of marl and earthy 
limestone, and extends in a belt of many miles, east and 
west of the Mandan village, on the most northern bend of 
the Missouri river, and southward across the southern boun- 
dary of the Territory. This soil can not be otherwise than 
very productive. I should think it especially adapted to 
wheat, rye, barley, and oats. I have seen, also, very fine 
Indian corn along the upper valleys of the Missouri river. 



190 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

It is in this district that what are called huttes by the 
Canadian French, and cerros by the Spaniards, are profusely 
scattered. Here and there the traveler finds surfaces, vary- 
ing in diameter from a hundred feet to a mile, elevated from 
fifteen to fifty feet above the surrounding surface. They 
are not hills or knobs, the sides of which are more or less 
steep and covered with grass. Their sides are nearly per- 
pendicular, their surfaces flat, and often covered with moun- 
tain cherries and other shrubs. They have the appearance 
of having been suddenly elevated above the surrounding 
surface by some specific cause. This marl and limestone 
formation is, in many localities, worked into fantastic or 
picturesque forms, by the action of the elements. In one 
place, especially, called by the traders La Mauvaise Terre 
(the bad ground), and about thirty miles in diameter, it has 
assumed a marvelous variety of singular forms. From one 
point of view it assumes the aspect of an extensive and 
frowning fortification ; from another, the appearance of an 
oriental city crowned with domes and minarets ; and from 
a third, the appearance of a sterile, broken, and unattract- 
ive congregation of incongruous elements. These delusive 
appearances are produced by distance and the position of 
the sun. 

" The wrecks of the diluvian period of geology are spread 
all over this region, and most profusely on that portion north 
of the Missouri river. Detached masses of rock, some of them 
hundreds of tons in weight, wholly unconnected with the adja- 
cent geological formations, and evidently allied to those of 
the northern Rocky mountain region, dot the whole country. 

" The district which I will call the fourth, lying north of 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 191 

the Missouri river and west of Minesota, is a succession 
of undulating plains, the soil of which is quite fertile but 
rather dry. These plains are covered with a thick grassy 
sward, which sustains innumerable herds of bison, elk, and 
deer. 

''The fifth district is at the base of the Black Hills, 
between that range and the Eocky mountains, and includes 
the valley of the Yellow Stone, of the Maria's river, and a 
variety of other small valleys, circumvallated by an amphi- 
theater of mountains and gorgeous mountain scenery. The 
valley of the Yellow Stone is spacious, fertile, and salubrious. 
The streams are fringed with trees, from whence the valley 
expands many miles to the mountains. The traveler can 
almost imagine himself upon the Danube ; for the valley is 
sprinkled over at long intervals with cyclopean structures 
of granite, closely assimilated in appearance, from a distant 
view, to the stern and solitary castles with which Europe 
was covered and guarded during the middle ages. But these 
structures exceed those of Europe in magnitude and gran- 
deur, and the woods and waters are disposed with a taste and 
beauty which the highest art must ever toil after in vain. 
It is encircled by a rich girdle of hights and mountains, the 
bases and dark sides of which are obscured in shrubs, and 
the summits tufted with noble forest trees. And here is to 
be the seat of a populous and powerful community in the far 
future." 

The writer of the foregoing is understood to be a gentle- 
man of St. Louis, who has framed his statements partly 
from personal observation, and in part from the accounts of 
hunters and trappers who are familiar with the country 



192 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

described. The same writer states that snow falls at the 
foot of the mountains as early as in September, and in the 
southeastern part of the Territory, about the first of No- 
vember. I had read with much interest the graphic articles 
of this gentleman, before starting for Kansas, and doubt not 
that they are, in the main, correct, though our own observa- 
tions, and the opinions of others in the Territory, compel us 
to believe that he has underrated the extent of the fertile 
district which lies next west of the Missouri river, and 
that this district is not so abruptly terminated as he seems 
to suppose, but that its characteristics change gradually 
into those of the dry and sandy plain. 

I had, also, consulted Fremont's Journal, previous to our 
journey, and was gratified, in passing over some of the 
routes he traveled, to notice the accuracy of his descriptions 
and observations. I should have been glad to have quoted 
still more largely from his valuable journal, were it not 
already in the hands of so many. 

In Mr. Hale's book on Kansas and Nebraska, there is a 
quotation from a writer, not named, who made a short ex- 
cursion into southeastern Nebraska, which, as affording a 
description of scenery, I insert here. The writer started 
from Council Bluff's. 

"A short drive brought us to the "Winter Quarters Ferry, 
twelve miles above on the river, where a good, well-manned 
and capacious steam ferry-boat was waiting, and in three 
minutes we landed all our company upon the far-famed soil 
of Nebraska. After a refreshing draught from a clear, cold 
spring that gushes from the hill-side, a few minutes brought 
us to the encampment of Messrs. Babbitt and Stiles, situated 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 193 

upon a pretty, grassy knoll, with the green carpet thickly 
bespangled with myriads of red, juicy strawberries, which, 
by-the-by, abound plentifully in the river-borders of this 
highly interesting country. A cheerful camp-fire was soon 
blazing, and our animals turned loose to graze. 

" We encircled the broad, spread table (buffalo skins 
spread upon the ground), and regaled upon luxuries. At a 
reasonable hour the camp-fire was well replenished, and a 
circular bed of robes, etc., spread, and all retired in quiet 
to repose, and to dream of the great future of that lovely 
land. 

" Early morn brought the report of horses being missing. 
A scout soon returned with the conviction that they had 
been stolen by the Indians. A company of horsemen started 
on one trail north, while we, with a small company, took 
the road for the Elkhorn, where we arrived (thirty miles) 
in good camp time, after passing over a most delightful 
country for nearly the whole distance. There is, however, 
quite a scarcity of timber, which may only be found upon 
the streams. 

•' We encamped for dinner on the Papillon, where there is 
some nice timber and excellent water. In approaching near 
the Elkhorn, a glorious and grand scenery breaks upon the 
vision. The eye takes in, at a glance, the country ahead for 
some twenty miles, giving a full view of the Elkhorn and 
Platte rivers, with their winding courses, groves, blufi"s, 
and valleys; at sundown the scenery is both grand and 
enchanting: 

" The river being high, we met with no success in fish- 
ing, although there are fine fish in the stream. Our roast 
17 



194 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

venison was eaten with a relish while seated on nature's 
grassy carpet around the camp-fire. Here we found a num- 
ber of Pawnee Indians, one of whom had a monster of a 
young black eagle which he had captured after having 
broken one of its wings. We had an excellent night's rest, 
and at an early hour started homeward, snatching occasion- 
ally from their native beds a cluster of sweet flowers." 

The fifth division embraces the country lying at the east- 
ern base of the Rocky mountains, and the whole of their 
eastern slope. The country stretching along the eastern 
base of the mountains has a general elevation of from four 
thousand to five thousand feet above the sea — it being about 
four thousand at the southern line of Kansas, and five 
thousand, around the sources of the Platte, in Nebraska. 
A country, thus elevated, must of course possess a cool, but 
healthful climate. Numerous spurs shoot out from the 
mountains, forming fertile valleys, with mountain-streams 
whose banks abound with timber, as stated by Fremont in 
his journal, quoted already, where he is describing the coun- 
try around the sources of the Platte. Throughout this 
region there seems to be an abundance of pine timber, and 
other trees of mountain growth, and it becomes a question 
of great interest, whether the treasures of this immense 
western lumber region can be wafted eastward by being 
floated down the upper Missouri, the Yellow Stone, and 
their tributaries, the Platte, and the tributaries of the 
Kansas and the Arkansas. 

The features of this mountain district are quite difi*erent 
from what many have supposed. Many probably think of 
the Rocky mountains as a single continuous mountain wall 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 196 

whicli the traveler mounts by a steep ascent on one Gide, 
and descends as steeply on the other. But these mountains 
are only the highest peaks in a vast mountainous region, 
varying in breadth from five hundred to nine hundred miles, 
and occupying a large portion of the space between the 
Pacific Ocean and the Mississippi river. It is an immense 
elevated plateau, reaching from Mexico to the farthest north, 
the Sierra Nevada, in California, being the westernmost 
high ridge, and the Eocky mountains forming the loftiest 
range in the east. 

Over this wide space, imbosomed among the hills, are 
countless valleys, streams and lakes, while the mountains, 
up to the snow line, are covered with forests. One of these 
valleys, that of Salt Lake, is occupied by the Mormons. 
Many tribes of Indians, some of them warlike, and some 
at present hostile, roam over this wide country. It abounds 
in game of almost every variety, and it can not be doubted, 
that this Switzerland of the west, will yet be occupied by a 
bold, hardy and intelligent population. Could the Govern- 
ment once abandon its purposes of acquisition on the south, 
and foster the construction of at least three lines of railway 
through these regions to the Pacific, it would confer a 
greater benefit upon the people of the United States, than 
by the acquisition of every island in the West Indian seas. 

The sixth district is occupied by the not well-defined 
sandy belt, that extends along the center of the plain, 
between the Missouri on the east, and the Eocky mountains, 
whose characteristics have been previously described, while 
speaking of Kansas. 

West of our present line of States, and between them and 



196 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

California, and the Pacific, there is an immense Territory, 
about equal to that occupied by the States at present, rich 
in agricultural and mineral resources, whose political and 
religious destiny depends very much upon the question, 
whether slavery shall be excluded from Kansas and Nebras- 
ka, and especially from the former. If Kansas is made free, 
the vast regions of the west and southwest will be saved 
from this devouring curse, which not only destroys all 
external prosperity, but eats out the very heart of the coun- 
try. It is, apparently, the most important issue ever made 
in the United States, and it will never be completely met 
by the mere action of political parties. The determining of 
this question belongs of right to the churches of this land, 
and upon them, as the end, I think, will show, has God laid 
the responsibility, because it is a question of morals and 
religion, involving the honor of Christ. 

Since writing the foregoing, I have had an opportunity 
of conversing with the Eev. Mr. Spencer, of the Ojibwa 
Mission, at St. Joseph, on the Pembina river, close on the 
boundary line between the United States and the British 
Provinces, and consequently farther north than the wide 
region embraced in the valley of the Yellow Stone and the 
upper Missouri. Mr. Spencer has just returned from the 
Pembina station, and having spent a winter there, his 
account of the climate and productions of this region is 
interesting, as throwing light upon the capabilities of the 
country lying to the southwest of his location. He informed 
me that a person does not suffer there from cold during the 
winter, more than even in the mild climate of southern Ohio ; 
that the greater humidity of the atmosphere here, produces 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 197 

a sensation of cold not felt in those northern regions, at a 
much lower temperature. This he attributes to the dry and 
invigorating character of the atmosphere. Upon the whole, 
he considers the winters not more severe there than in Ohio, 
though the mercury sinks much lower. The frost commences 
there in September, but after the first frosts, there is usually 
pleasant weather for several weeks (the Indian summer), 
and in the latter part of October, the winter begins, when, 
until spring, the weather is steadily cold. Corn is not 
planted there till the beginning of June, but it ripens per- 
fectly, producing fine crops. Wheat also succeeds well, as 
do also barley and oats ; while potatoes and other roots yield 
large crops, and are of a very superior quality. 

This tract is in the valley of the Eed river of the north, 
and opens toward the Polar seas. As the valleys of the 
northern Missouri and Yellow Stone are farther south, and 
are sheltered by the Rocky mountains and Black Hills, the 
climate is, doubtless, more mild, and the whole country every 
way more beautiful and desirable. When it is considered, 
moreover, that this vast amphitheater can be reached by 
steamboats, it can not be doubted that it will soon be occu- 
pied by the homes of the pioneers. It can not be held much 
longer by Indians and wild beasts alone. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

GREAT IMPORTANCE OF THE KANSAS QUESTION. 

West of our present line of States, and between them 
and California, and north of the general boundary of 
Texas, lies a country about as large as that occupied by all 
the present States and the Territory of Minesota. It is a 
district more than one thousand miles square. Its eastern 
portion comprises Nebraska and Kansas, and the prairie 
country which lies south of Kansas, and between it and 
Texas. "West of this, there is the broad belt of mountain- 
ous territory, reaching from Mexico to the British Provinces 
on the north, being from five hundred to nine hundred miles 
wide, and bounded westward by the Sierra Nevada, in Cali- 
fornia, and farther north by the Pacific Ocean. The Bocky 
mountains form the dividing line, or *' ridge," between two 
immense water-sheds, one of which slopes eastward to the 
Mississippi, the other westward to the Pacific. The eastern 
slope has been dwelt upon in this book. The western is 
composed of a succession of mountains and hills, valleys 
and mountain basins, sparkling with lakes, and streams 
that flow westward toward the Pacific Ocean. This region 
abounds also in timber. It receives the moisture and mild 
influences of the western and southwestern winds from the 



I 



JOUKNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 199 

Pacific, which, even in Washington and Oregon render the 
winters short and mild. Several of the mountain peaks 
shoot up to the region of perpetual snow, while at their 
bases, as in Switzerland, are mild and beautiful valleys, and 
clear streams and lakes. In Mexico and New Mexico, these 
same mountain ranges are known to be exceedingly rich in 
minerals. The value of this immense Territory has not, as 
yet, been duly appreciated, and especially by the people of 
the free States. Little importance has been attached, until 
lately, to the whole country west of the Missouri, on the 
north, and of Arkansas, on the south. The great ''American 
Desert," as it has been called, and the Eocky mountains, 
have, in the minds of most, probably, filled the whole space 
between the present States and the Pacific Ocean, excepting 
only California. 

But it is a question not yet settled in the negative, 
whether this western half of the United States territory, 
lying beyond the Missouri and Mississippi, is not capable 
of supporting as large a population as that which is occupied 
by our present States. The beauty, fertility, and general 
resources of the Pacific slope of our country have doubtless 
been greatly underrated. The whole of this vast region is, 
by the Nebraska bill, virtually thrown open to slavery ; for 
though in terms it is confined to Kansas and Nebraska, the 
principle of the bill is equally applicable to all our present 
territory, and to all which may hereafter be acquired. And 
this was the undoubted aim of the whole movement. It was 
no less a scheme than this; to gain for the slave power the 
control of all the unoccupied territory which we now possess, 
and of all which we may obtain, whether the Sandwich 



200 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

Islands, Mexico, the West India islands, or Central America. 
The Nebraska bill was but the entering wedge to this vast 
iniquity. It has been said that the slaveholders care little 
for the possession of Kansas ; that they are interested mainly 
in the establishment of the principle, and its future appli- 
cation to more valuable acquisitions. This, in one sense, 
may be true. They may value Cuba more than Kansas, yet 
it should be remembered that they are perfectly aware that 
the possession of Kansas is essential to the prosecution of 
their plan. It is the strong outwork which must, from 
necessity, be carried, before any other step can be taken. 
At the frontier of Kansas the aggressive march of the slave 
power is at present arrested, and as a fortress of freedom it 
is now invested by southern forces. It is the Crimea and 
Sevastopol in this western war of liberty and slavery ; and 
far more important issues hang on the event than on the 
fate of the Eussian fortress. 

Situated as Kansas now is, it is the key of that whole 
great "West beyond our present States. If secured for free 
institutions, the same causes by which it will be saved, will 
not only arrest the northward march of slavery, but it will 
also carry the dominion of freedom southward, and interpose 
a complete barrier to the extension of the slave power west- 
ward, and a Territory equal to the present States will thus 
be secured as the inheritance of freemen. Nor will the 
influence find its boundary here. A public sentiment, strong 
enough and active enough to obtain such a result, would 
also prevent the annexation of any territory hereafter to be 
placed under the curse of slavery. To secure Kansas, is to 
change the whole policy of the government in reference to 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 201 

slavery, from that of nurture and enlargement to one of 
discouragement and repression. Instead of marching forth 
to seize, on all sides, the fairest of our possessions, it would 
be hemmed in by the closing round it of freedom's hosts, and 
driven in upon itself. Left to its own unaided resources, it 
would be a helpless monster smitten with famine, gnashing 
its teeth upon itself, and perishing for lack of spoil. 

On the other hand, if Kansas is won by the slave power, 
flushed with this victory, arrogant and unscrupulous, it will 
rush into fresh outrage and victory against a beaten and 
dispirited north, and the slaveholders will soon control 
directly, or indirectly, the whole Pacific slope, and the whole 
Mississippi valley, except its extreme northern portion, if, 
indeed, we may be allowed to except even that ; for with the 
enormous political ascendency which the south would then 
have, she could wield and mould the north according to her 
will, as the past has shown in the most mortifying manner. 
She would add, at her pleasure, Mexico and Cuba, and gain, 
also, control of Central America. 

All this she will be able to accomplish, if Kansas shall 
be won, in spite of any combination or re-construction of 
parties which is likely to occur. There is, as yet, no public 
sentiment in the north which can be relied upon, to prevent 
the sacrifice of the interests of freedom, when demanded by 
the exigency of a party. This public sentiment requires to 
be invigorated and made courageous, by just such a victory 
as the winning of Kansas would supply. Nor would this 
great issue be suitably met, by the mere repeal of the 
Nebraska bill, or the striking out of its iniquitous clause. 
A great opportunity of gaining for freedom perpetual ascen- 



202 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

dency in tlie country would then be lost. Let the fraud 
remain as a brand upon the southern brow, and as an 
everlasting memorial against the slave power. Let the 
north now win back its own, and then sit down on the 
southern frontier, freed from compromises and restrictions 
of all kinds, ready to go forth from this heart of the 
Continent, and plant its institutions on every foot of Ameri- 
can soil. A prompt and large northern emigration would 
secure the whole. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



A WARNING VOICE. 



The impression is now widely, almost universally spread 
through the free States, that Kansas is already virtually 
won for freedom. Schemes for its salvation have been so 
largely discussed, that they are regarded by many as already 
accomplished. The plans of emigration societies have been 
so constantly before the public, their every movement has 
been so carefully noted and exulted over, that most are not 
aware how far the execution lags behind the promise. 

Again, inasmuch as the late political triumphs have been 
achieved under an " Anti-Nebraska " banner, thousands 
suppose that through these Kansas has been secured. Then, 
too, an opinion is generally entertained that slaveholders 
themselves regard the question as one determined already 
against them, and that to this decision they must submit as 
best they may. Doubtless there are many important circum- 
stances in the case, that favor the establishment of free insti- 
tutions in Kansas. These have been already mentioned in 
a previous chapter. They are numerous enough to place a 
complete victory within the reach of the free States. If 
they fail, it will be from lack of sufficient interest in the 
subject to induce prompt and energetic action. It will be 



204 JOURNEY THROUGH ICANSAS. 

because they neglect to avail themselves of the advantages 
which seem to have been specially granted them in the provi- 
dence of God. Against such effort as the north could easily 
make, and would not fail to make, if thoroughly aroused, 
the slave power can offer no effectual resistance. It would 
be compelled into quiet submission ; while by the moral 
effect of such a triumph, every neutral mind would be 
inclined toward the victorious party, and anti-slavery feel- 
ing would be strengthened within the slave States them- 
selves. There are a thousand interests and feelings already 
there, antagonistic to slavery, and these would show them- 
selves in active effort, if time and circumstance should favor. 
The commercial interests especially, if not overawed, will ere 
long present in Missouri a powerful antagonism to slavery. 
A triumph then may be readily achieved — but it is not 
therefore, certain that it will be won. 

It is at least prudent to study with care, the actual dan- 
gers which beset this cause — the real obstacles which are yet 
unsurmounted. In the first place, the efforts of the Emigra- 
tion Societies have been met with a certain lack of enthusi- 
asm which gives no high promise for the future, and indicates 
that the tone of that portion of the press, favorable to the 
enterprise, is yet quite in advance of the general public sen- 
timent. Men and means have been somewhat sparingly 
offered to these Societies, and few from the east have as yet 
gone forward on their individual responsibilit}^ The thou- 
sands which the public were led to expect, and which the 
slaveholders feared, have dwindled to hundreds, and the 
public has not been sufficiently prompt and liberal toward 
the Societies, to enable them to provide even for these, in an 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 205 

entirely satisfactory manner — according to the earnest desire 
of the officers and agents who have the immediate direction 
of affairs. For these reasons, even at the Xcw England Set- 
tlement, the various instrumentalities, such as saw-mills, 
etc., could not be put in motion sufficiently early to insure 
the comfort of all for the winter, notwithstanding the energy 
and activity of the resident agents. The friends of the 
cause in Xew England should not have permitted this ; nor 
exposed thus the Colonization enterprise to the reaction 
which is almost certain to come. I mention this not by way 
of discouragement, but that the dangers ahead may be per- 
ceived in season to avoid them. Untiring efforts should be 
made, not only to prevent the eastern public from sinking 
into indifference, but to prepare them for the future, and 
stir the masses with enthusiasm and hope. The plans which 
have been formed for the systematic settling of Kansas on a 
large scale, have been wisely conceived. They are adapted 
to the great ends in view. If successful, they will be fol- 
lowed by far-reaching results, which will carry down bless- 
ings to the generations to come. They ought not to be 
permitted to languish for the lack of effort, or sympathy, or 
money, or men. Taking it all in all, this is the largest 
idea now before the American mind. 

Again, the political movement which, under an Anti- 
Nebraska flag has just swept the country, can not be safely 
relied upon for the salvation of Kansas. It is questionable, 
to say the least, whether its leading sentiment will be one 
opposed to slavery — when it has assumed the form and com- 
pactness of a party. Political parties have hitherto used 
the anti-slavery feeling of the country very much as a vessel 



206 JOUKNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

uses a steam-tug, when becalmed, or to get it well out of 
harbor, and then it spreads its sails and commits itself to 
other influences. The steam-tug should be converted into 
an ocean steamer that can make a voyage on its own account. 
The political party which is now likely to become the 
dominant one, has quite other purposes lying nearer to its 
heart than the abolition, or even repression of slavery. If 
to secure these purposes, some anti-slavery work is necessary, 
it may be done, if not, Kansas will be forgotten, or the 
iniquity even be consummated. The sooner the people cease 
to cheat themselves with the idea that in these shoutings over 
political victories they hear deliverance for Kansas, the bet- 
ter. It may, or it may not be so, according as party exigen- 
cies shall demand. Let those who desire to plant free insti- 
tutions in Kansas beware of leaning upon that which may 
break and pierce them. Moreover, the slaveholders are 
neither disheartened, as yet, nor indifferent nor inactive. 
They are more hopeful now than when we were in the Ter- 
ritory. They are gathering assurance and determination. 
They see the magnitude of the issue ; and a Missourian has 
lately expressed the opinion that to prevent Kansas from 
becoming a free State, Missouri should pour half her popu- 
lation, ''temporarily, at least,'' into the Territory. This 
language, however extravagant, is not to be regarded as 
having no significance. It means that Missouri shall sup- 
ply voters enough from her own soil to meet the question 
when it arises, and that they will force their way to the 
ballot-box with pistols and the bowie-knife. A fit illustra- 
tion is offered, by an expedition fitted out a few days since, 
as I was informed by one then on the spot, at Weston, 



JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 207 

Missouri, to control the election of delegates to Congress in 
the Territory. 

A convention of Missourians held a convention in Missouri, 
for the nomination of a delegate for Kansas, and then a body 
of about three hundred armed men, went over into the 
Territory on the day appointed to enforce their nomination 
made on the other side of the river by residents in Missouri. 
They intend to overawe the settlers, by demanding a vote 
for every fictitious claim which their tools or accomplices 
have registered ; and they openly declare, that if those who 
have made these claims can not vote, though residing in 
Missouri, that all others shall be prevented by force and 
arms. Doubtless they would, and will do these things, and 
worse, if they dare ; and they will dare, if the number of 
anti-slavery settlers is small. Had the eastern emigration, 
however, even approached its early promise, these proceed- 
ings would never have been heard of. Hence, inasmuch as 
the territorial legislature is not to be convened, as is said, 
until next spring or summer, the immense importance of 
continuous efforts, during the winter, to secure a large and 
early emigration in the spring. By this means the whole 
question would be promptly met and settled, and the storms 
and bluster on the frontier would subside into a calm, and 
these threats would be heard of no more. The friends of 
human freedom through the north, then, should be made to 
understand that there is great and real danger in regard to 
Kansas, and that success will require earnest work ; and yet 
success is, under God, perfectly certain, if their work is 
well and promptly done. 

These violent counsels and measures are the work of a 



208 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

small minority of the people of Missouri, but left to them- 
selves, they may control the action of the State and the 
destiny of Kansas. It is said that there is a secret organi- 
zation rapidly extending itself, whose sole purpose is to 
secure Kansas for slavery, by numbers, fraud, or force. If 
this is so, it will receive the earnest co-operation of the 
prominent leaders among slaveholders, and of hundreds of 
traitors to freedom in the free States also. It remains to 
be seen, whether the freemen of the north will suffer this 
robbery of their rightful patrimony to be thus perpetuated. 
The foregoing information, in regard to a "secret society," 
we received from a gentleman of our acquaintance who has 
just returned from Kansas (November 2Sth), and since that 
period we have found in a St. Louis paper the following 
confirmation, by which it will be seen that a United States 
Senator is at the head of this new scheme of iniquity. 
By such proceedings let the north be warned, and also 
aroused : — 

" Senator Atchison is at present engaged in the upper country, 
organizing a secret society, to consist of five thousand persons, pledged to 
repair into Kansas, on the day of the first election held there, to vote slavery 
into that Territory. Of this we have authentic information, and in a 
few days we shall expose the whole scheme ; for while we wish to 
see the people of Kansas determine the question of their own 
domestic institutions, we can not and will not tolerate such an 
unlawfal and iniquitous rascality as that of 'Drunken Davy's,' 
which proposes that a large body of men who are not, and do not 
intend to become residents of that Territory, shall, by force and 
violence, override the sense and wishes of its legitimate settlers." 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

CHEISTIAN OBLIGATION — CHKISTIAN 
COLONIZATION. 

In considering the magnitude of the interests whicli are 
at stake — the extent and value of the region to "be lost or 
won for freedom — by the action of this generation, the 
question ought to present itself to every mind, What can I 
do ; what ought I to do ; how can Kansas, Nebraska, and 
that great adjoining West, be most effectually secured? 
Especially should every Christian make this a subject of 
prayerful inquiry. A great practical question is here 
presented to the Church, and especially to that portion of it 
that professes a deep anxiety for the removal of slavery, or 
even a desire to confine it within its present limits. Will 
the friends of freedom be justified in leaving the settlement 
of Kansas to the operation of the common causes which have 
governed emigration elsewhere, or are they called upon, in 
the emergency which has suddenly arisen, to improve, by 
unusual measures, the opportunity which has been presented 
in the providence of God? It is questionable whether the 
opponents of the slave power have, in general, viewed this 
Nebraska fraud in its proper light. It has been regarded 
"by most as a signal victory, achieved by the south over 
18 



210 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

northern interests and rights. If, however, the friends of 
human rights are now true to God and their cause, it will 
be seen that the south has smitten her own interests with a 
fatal blow. The Missouri compromise was slavery's northern 
wall of defense. For although there was no express stipu- 
lation, that free institutions should not cross the line agreed 
upon, there was an understood moral obligation, the force 
of an implied compact, which would have arrested, during 
its continuance, the progress of freedom at that bound. 
Should we not be encouraged, when the south, in its folly, 
has, with her own hands, and against all remonstrance, 
torn this compact in pieces, and exposed herself and her 
institutions in an open field ? Ought we not to discern in 
this the favoring providence of God, which thus offers to 
free institutions an unlooked-for opportunity, and opens 
before them an unexpected field ? For if slavery may now 
march northward, if it has tho power, the whole south is, in 
like manner, thrown open to freedom. Let us suppose that 
the Missouri compromise shall stand perpetually repealed, 
and the struggle is to go forward without territorial restric- 
tions on either side ; and add one other supposition, that the 
north is true to herself, and with the comparative progress 
of the north and the south as our guide, who can doubt as 
to the ultimate result ? Instead of mourning that the north 
has been opened to slavery, let us rejoice that all restrictions 
upon the progress of liberty are taken away, and that there 
is not a foot of soil now on our continent, where she may not 
set up her banner and plant her institutions. If northern 
freemen were fully awake, and prepared for the performance 
of their whole duty, this would be the appropriate feeling ; 



JOUENEY THROUGH KANSAS. 211 

and instead of aggressions upon northern territory "by slavery, 
we should hear of the march of free institutions toward 
the Gulf. 

The best method of winning back this stolen inheritance 
of the north, will perhaps appear, if we bestow a moment's 
attention upon the different methods of emigration now 
followed or proposed. The discomforts and perils, the disad- 
vantages of all kinds attending the common manner of 
settling a new region are so great, and so manifest, that it 
is surprising that it has not, ere this, been systematically 
undertaken, when the superior advantages of Colonies are 
perfectly obvious. Too often the settler is for years cut off 
from all the benefits and comforts of civilized life ; from 
religious privileges; from schools, society, and markets. 
The older portions of the household drag out often a sickly 
and sad existence, shut out from most of those little luxuries 
and enjoyments which once rendered life joyous ; while the 
children grow up without education or culture of any kind, 
rude proprietors, at last, of valuable tracts of land, where, 
perhaps, the third generation may be educated. 

Pioneer life, while producing such magnificent general 
results, has caused suffering, and sickness, and death, in 
thousands of individual homes, and entailed semi-barbarism 
upon a portion of the survivors. But all, or most of these 
evils may be easily avoided by the formation of Colonies — 
and especially now, when so large a portion of the best of 
our public lands may be reached, cheaply and quickly, by 
steamboats and railways. It is not now an impracticable 
thing to transplant a whole community, with all its various 
members and occupations, so that nearly all the comforts 



212 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

and benefits of an old society may be at once enjoyed in the 
new position. Churches, schools, professional men, mer- 
chants and mechanics of all kinds, may locate themselves 
together, and commence the new life with all the operations 
and relations of the old. The Christian will be connected 
at once with the church and its ordinances, nor become, as 
so many thousands of pioneers have, a lost sheep in the 
wilderness, or left to bring scandal upon religion. The 
individual will not be isolated and lost, nor will his influ- 
ence be neutralized or his principles endangered by the 
power of strange associations. He will not be thrown among 
strangers. It will be a community either of old friends and 
neighbors, or a company drawn together by common aims 
and affinities ; and thus supported by each other, a small 
band, instead of losing, as so many individual pioneers have 
done, their original characteristics and former good practices, 
will send an influence outward, and stamp their image upon 
others. 

Every such homogeneous colony becomes a center of life, 
and source of power. In no country ever opened to the 
settler, could all this be more easily accomplished than in 
Kansas and portions of Nebraska — but especially in Kansas. 
Seven or eight days of easy travel by railways and steam- 
boats, will suffice to transport a colony even from Massa- 
chusetts to this land ; and then next spring, the valley of 
the Kansas can be ascended by steamboat to Fort Eiley, 
(about one hundred and seventy-five miles), by the river. 
In this short period, or a little more, a colony from almost 
any point in the northern States can be located on some of 
the most fertile lands of earth, where the fields are perfectly 



JOUBNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 213 

prepared for the plow, and for the reception of any crop, and 
where natural meadows and pastures stretch away on every 
side, to furnish hay and grass for any amount of stock. If 
then, these colonists possess some ready money — and without 
means men can not be comfortable anywhere — what can pre- 
vent them from surrounding themselves, in a single season, 
with most of the comforts of an eastern home, while even 
the immediate future would open with richer promise than 
ever before. To pioneer life, such as it has formerly been, 
especially in timber countries — such as it presents itself to 
most minds that have heard tales of frontier hardship and 
suffering — colonization in such a country as Kansas, bears 
not the remotest resemblance. Every man among the thou- 
sands that yearly build houses on new sites, and lay out new 
grounds, does what is required of the settler of Kansas. He 
locates upon a tract of land all ready for any purpose, and 
then lays out his grounds, and erects his dwelling. With 
such a colony, the whole machinery of society would at 
once go on as usual, and each would find himself in the 
midst of old neighbors and friends, or among new asso- 
ciates, of a spirit similar to his own, and surrounded by the 
conveniences of older society — while life, as in all new 
settlements, would have a larger and more genial develop- 
ment. The site of such a colony would at once become a 
business center for the surrounding region, and the value of 
lands would be rapidly increased. To these general advan- 
tages of colonization, the Emigration Societies propose to add 
the aid of capital and associated influence, by which cheap 
fares can be obtained for emigrants, along the lines of travel, 
and to erect mills, and aid in all suitable ways, in the 



214 JOURNEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

establishment of a town, where numbers may at once be 
collected in an organized society. They expect to be remu- 
nerated for capital expended, by the increased value of the 
lands, which the Company itself retains. These advantages 
may all be secured by private association in a single colony. 
But the highest possible exhibition of this scheme, and 
by far the most effectual for the salvation of Kansas, would 
be colonization by bands of Christians — "Christian colo- 
nization." Such a movement need not be isolated or exclusive 
in its character or aims. Certainly, there would be nothing 
objectionable, if Christians should agree to act as such, and 
in organized capacity, in connection with the efforts of others, 
for the purpose of establishing the Gospel and freedom on 
the soil of Kansas. Nothing is more obvious, than if Emi- 
grant Churches could be organized in sufficient numbers, 
and planted in that Territory, so that they should become 
the nuclei around which society there would form itself, that 
Kansas, with God's blessing, would not only be a free State, 
but a model State. If the Christians who may make Kan- 
sas their home, instead of being scattered abroad, could 
be settled in communities, from the first, and bound to each 
other by Christian sympathies, neighborhood attachments, 
and the ties of Church relationship, what a waste of influ- 
ence would be prevented ! what a power would be created 
at these Christian centers, whose silent influence would flow 
forth, shaping and blessing all things ! This presents itself 
in the light of a missionary effort on the large scale, and in 
the most effective form. If Churches could thus be formed 
at different points in our land, either connected with colonies 
or forming a colony by themselves, to become in Kansas the 



JOURNEY THKOUGH KANSAS. 215 

germs of towns and cities, and to plant the seeds of all 
right things around them, how incalculable a benefit would 
thus be conferred upon Kansas, and how far into the 
future the movement would reach, in its influence upon 
slavery and the destinies of that remote west, even to the 
Pacific ! How cheaply this operation might be performed ! 
Every godly man or woman thus settling there, would be a 
missionary of the most eiffective kind, and once there, a man 
would not only sustain himself, but would be adding to the 
general wealth of the country, while laying the foundations of 
the kingdom of Christ. Why might not such Churches be 
organized in different parts of the country, and the different 
missionary societies aid them in sustaining their pastors ? 
and why should not the same large-hearted benevolence, 
which sends yearly hundreds of thousands of dollars into 
foreign lands, contribute with more zeal and liberality still, 
to such a cause, so intimately connected with the progress of 
Christ's cause at home, and the interests of the country at 
large ? It presents, too, a noble opportunity to lay aside 
denominational feelings, and unite in a common work for 
God. If at any locality there are Christians of different 
sects, who wish to emigrate to Kansas, why should they 
not unite in an organization liberal enough to embrace all 
evangelical Christians, and then go forth together, not to 
establish a sectarian religion,' but to save, by their joint 
efforts, Kansas from slavery, and lay the broad foundations 
of the Gospel under the society forming there ? Such an 
experiment might afford the opportunity for the exhibition 
of a higher and nobler form of Christianity than now ex- 
ists in the country. Separated from old associations — old 



k 



216 JOUENEY THROUGH KANSAS. 

barriers thrown down — theological differences laid aside and 
forgotten, and drawn together by the power of new and 
interesting relations, and in circumstances more favorable 
for the cultivation of the affections — the idea of Christian 
brotherhood might thus, perhaps, be more nearly realized 
than it can be under the more rigid forms of older commu- 
nities, and Churches more nearly conformed to primitive 
models and primitive character, might manifest the power 
of a fresher and more spiritual life. 

If Kansas and Nebraska could be occupied by such 
Churches, composed of men who, while laboring to shut out 
slavery from the Territory, would not forget to exclude it 
also from church fellowship and communion, and would, 
moreover, see that a sound Christian literature were circu- 
lated in the families and communities about them — a litera- 
ture not in alliance with popular and powerful sin — a work 
would thereby be done, by which the whole country might 
ultimately be saved from slavery, and over which men and 
angels might rejoice together ! 



THE EIS'D. 



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